


A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing (Okay So a Demon in Angel’s Clothing…Same Difference)

by Mistymay6886



Series: Slightly Evil Magnus Verse (Verse 2) [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Asexual Raphael Santiago, BAMF Magnus Bane, Case Fic, Detective Alec Lightwood, High Warlock of Brooklyn Magnus Bane, Humor, M/M, Pansexual Simon Lewis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 17:03:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 61,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17104622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mistymay6886/pseuds/Mistymay6886
Summary: Something is hunting human’s, leaving a trail of bodies with bizarre markings and not much else in the way of evidence. Humans are getting nervous…Beginning to notice things they shouldn’t…Things like Vampires, shifters, Fae and more living among them. When yet another body drops barely a day after the last, people begin to panic.In order to solve the case, and keep the city of Brooklyn from dissolving into total anarchy, The High Warlock Of Brooklyn and the head of the Brooklyn Vampire clan team up with the Detectives working the case…So, will Magnus be able to solve the case, find the demon behind it, and save the day, while keeping the very gorgeous, VERY suspicious, entirely human detective Alec Lightwood from finding out the truth?And speaking of the truth…will Simon be able to keep the truth about himself a secret from the two most powerful Supernaturals he’s ever encountered…And what, exactly IS the truth?





	1. There’s a Darkness In The Light

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Español available: [A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing (Okay So a Demon in Angel’s Clothing…Same Difference) (Traducción)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17375864) by [lbp98l](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lbp98l/pseuds/lbp98l)



> **_ Notes: _ **
> 
> Okay, so for those of you who read my other series you know I tend to kinda bounce around as far as the tone of the story goes, to me it keeps it more interesting…this series will be much the same..
> 
>  
> 
> this one picks up the day after the last one…Magnus’s probably not going to be as over the top flirty in this one…he’s kinda focusing more on the demon murdering people as opposed to just the hot detective…
> 
>  
> 
> That being said still probably a good amount of flirting and banter….
> 
>  
> 
> Last thing, just a tiny heads up…we’re starting a bit darker than the 1st one…
> 
>  
> 
> _Anyways…here we go…hope you all enjoy it!_
> 
>  

 

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#  _ Other-Other-Other-Other-Other _

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##  _(Unknown)_

 

“Yeah, it’s no problem Leslie, I’ll cover the shift…be there at 6am.” He finished the call, hitting the disconnect button.

 

_Damnit…so much for his day off tomorrow…he’ll have to go in and tell the guys he has to bail- again…_

_Man one of these days being so helpful was going to kill him_

 

He turned, beginning back into the club,

 

“H-hey umm…David…right?” a nervous voice said from behind him. He turned back around to see who it was. The man was probably a bit younger than him maybe late twenties. He had a deep complexion, slightly messy black hair and wide, dark eyes that kept darting around, anxiously.

 

David nodded, tilting his head curiously,

 

“Yeah…I’m sorry, have we met?”

 

The nervous guy blushes faintly, shaking his head quickly,

 

“No...I-I’ve seen you in here a few times…you’re a paramedic right?”

 

Again he nods,

 

“Yes…” he quirks his eyebrow,

 

The man nods quickly, fidgeting, he keeps looking away, scratching at his neck anxiously…he seems restless and kind of high strung. He wonders if maybe he’s high…he seems to have that kind of energy.

 

David tilts his head in concern,

 

“Are you okay?”

 

He nods quickly, still fidgeting, looking over to the side, eyes widening, shaking his head faintly before slumping a bit, sighing, looking back at him,

 

“Y-yeah…I’m okay, but my friends not…She’s having a really bad reaction to something and really freaking out, but she won’t go to the hospital. Can you come with me and check on her? I’m really worried.”

 

In the back of his head he felt a faint gnawing sensation…something wasn’t right, he started to shake his head.

 

“I- look…I’m sorry, if you maybe can get her to come over here I’ll talk to her b-”

 

The man reached forward, catching his hand, tugging slightly, meeting his eyes

 

“Please, I really need you to come with me…”

 

The second he touched his hand David felt all his hesitation slip away,

 

“Please?” the man asked again, squeezing his hand

 

David nodded

 

“Y-yes, of course I’ll help…where is she?”

 

The guy nodded quickly, tugging him along, keeping his grip on his hand.

 

“This way.” The man said, leading him away from the club,

 

They make a few turns, going down a couple side streets, winding through the city. David glances over at the nervous man curiously,

 

“Hey…I never did catch your name?”

 

The guy seems to startle…it’s almost as if he forgot he was there, which is odd as he still had a faint grip on his hand.

 

“Oh, uh…I-It’s Raj.” He stammers

 

David nods, they take another turn, leading down a rather dark alleyway, he realizes it’s a dead end…and he sees no one else around. David feels that prickly feeling on the back of his neck. His steps falter, he tries to turn back, but the grip on his hand tightens, jerking him forward quickly, he stumbles into the alleyway and finds his feet seemingly moving of their own accord.

 

Raj leads him further back into the alley, until he’s just a few feet from the back wall. He pulls David’s hand, turning him around. Raj shakes his head, taking a deep breath, before looking up, meeting David’s eyes, looking so regretful.

 

Raj lets go of his hand, taking several steps backwards, till he’s about three feet away, right in the center of the alley.

 

 “I am so sorry.” he says softly, before kneeling down, drawing a small Marking in the very center of the alley, standing back up, moving a few more steps backwards, wrapping his arms around himself, swallowing faintly, lips moving, forming words that are but a whisper, that he can’t quite make out.

 

David tilts his head in confusion, not sure what’s going on, he begins to ask, only to realize he doesn’t seem to be able to,

 

Suddenly the mark begins to glow…it’s an odd black gleaming, somehow glowing dark. An ethereal black and blood orange smoke begins to rise, it slithers about the alley creeping closer, coiling around his feet, creeping up, rising and churning. David is frozen to the spot, realizing it’s not just that he cannot talk, he can’t move, he’s paralyzed, all but his eyes. He looks imploringly back over at the other man, begging for help. He’s standing over by the wall, shaking his head faintly…

 

“I am so sorry...” he says again,

 

“I wish there was some other way…”

 

David tries to call out to him again, but nothing happens, he widens his eyes, begging. Again Raj just shakes his head, rubbing at his face, before turning away slightly, squeezing his eyes shut.

 

The smoke rises, overwhelming him; he feels panic for a moment, and an utterly crushing sense of dread…

 

Then just as suddenly as the dread rose it dissipates, calms. He feels kind of fuzzy headed, almost drunk…and warm…

 

Very warm…

 

There’s an odd, prickly feeling to his skin…kinda like if your foot fell asleep, only all over…especially on his arms, chest, neck and back…it seems to deepen,

 

He closes his eyes, taking a deep, slow breath in…feeling the heat intensify, and the deep, heavy darkness enveloping him…

 

Raj takes a deep, shaky breath, trying to block out what was happening…

_Oh god, he wishes there was another way…but there wasn’t_

 

The only way to stop the monsters, protect the human race, was through righteous sacrifices. He’d asked, begged to find another way, but the Angel was insistent…

 

It was the only way…

 

He flinched when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder, turning faintly, looking up at the pale, handsome, iridescent figure next to him. The angel gave a soft, encouraging smile, reaching over, catching Raj’s chin, tilting his head up faintly, shimmering ice blue eyes, meeting Raj’s.

 

“It is nearly complete…one more and you can rest. Your world will be safe…your **_sister_** will be safe. You will no longer have these monsters running around, hunting you…hunting her. You are doing so well…you are a hero…

 

We are saving humanity…”

 

 

He took a deep breath, feeling a slow, deep calm overtaking him. He nodded slowly.

 

“We are saving humanity.” He repeated softly,

 

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#  _ Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon _

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“And I thought I was going to have to get a spray bottle to keep those two apart…seriously dude-”

 

Kevin gave a surprised near giggle, bright doe eyes wide and sparkling with laughter, he shook his head quickly

 

“Uh, no…you cannot spray the High Warlock Of Brooklyn with a spray bottle… _I don’t care how bad his flirting is!”_

 

“Dude, you weren’t there! You didn’t see it!”

 

Kevin laughed again,

 

“I don’t care…no amount of painful flirting is worth risking your life to stop.”

 

Simon scoffed, shaking his head,

 

“Ten more minutes, I’d of found out…cause I thought he was going to jump Alec right there…and…seriously…SO don’t want to see that. I mean objectively they’re both, like REALLY hot, and everything, but…uh…no…

 

Just no.

 

Thank goodness Raphael got there when he did.”

 

Kevin snickered

 

“Probably one of the first times someone’s ever said that…”

 

Simon shook his head, smiling,

 

“No, it’s really nothing like that; he was great…actually really nice.”

 

Kevin blinked

 

“Raphael? Like Raphael Santiago- as in head of the Brooklyn Vampire clan…dude I’m the one who’s supposed to be delirious.”

 

He chuckled

 

“I’m telling you; the guy was great. He was actually really helpful, and charming.” He trailed off, blushing faintly

 

Kevin quirked his eyebrow, eyes widening

 

“And…?”

 

Simon blinked

 

“What?”

 

He just tilted his head, making a continue motion,

 

_“And…”_

 

Simon rolled his eyes

 

“And good-looking, okay? Really handsome…I mean, I know there’s the whole, like, ‘vampire Magnetism’ thing and all that, but still… _wow_ …” he shook his head, blinking faintly

 

Kevin sighed, dropping his head back against the couch cushion, rubbing his temples,

 

“Dude… _please_ tell me you don’t have a crush on the head of the Brooklyn Vampire Clan?”

 

Simon shrugged sheepishly, blushing more,

 

“Well…”

 

Kevin groaned

 

“Oh my god…and you said ALEC needed supervision…”

 

“Okay, I know it’s kinda crazy, b-”

 

“Si- ‘kinda crazy’ is an ogre taking ballet classes and trying to make it on Broadway- A gwir-dyst having a crush on a Vampire Clan leader is a whole other ballgame.”

 

Simon huffed

 

“It’s not **_that_** crazy…and Tyler was awesome in his last play…it ran for weeks.”

 

Kevin gave him a deadpan look,

 

“Not that crazy? Simon he thinks you’re human…he thinks you think HE is human…he doesn’t know what you are…and if he finds out, in all likelihood he’d try to kill you…well…probably not so much with the ‘try…”

 

Simon groaned, nodding

 

“Yeah…I know, you’re right. Besides, it’s not like he’d be interested in me anyways; I mean he’s gorgeous, smart, brave, and strong…”

 

“So are you…” Kevin interjected,

 

“And he has that whole ‘debonair, vampire grace’ thing going for him.”

 

Kevin snorted, smirking,

 

“Kay so he’s kinda got you beat there…I’ve seen you actually trip while standing still.”

 

“Oh…only like…a few times…and anyway, weren’t you trying to talk me out of liking him?”

 

Kevin shrugged, giving a slight nod,

 

“Well, yeah, but that doesn’t mean I’m just gonna sit by when someone’s talking down about my best friend…even if it IS my best friend doing the talking.”

 

Simon smirked

 

“Thanks.”

 

He shrugged dismissively,

 

“Of course…anyways what happen w-wit…”he trailed off, face scrunching up,

 

 _“Ah-choo, Ah-choo, Ah-choo **, Ah-choo!**_ **”**

 

Simon turned away to grab a tissue for him…(Also to hide his muffled laughter)

 

Normally he’d never laugh at a friend sick with the flu. Yesterday no way he’d of laughed, the poor guy was out cold most of the day. He didn’t even wake up when Simon got home- which was really a pity, as he was absolutely dying to tell him everything he missed.

 

_Fortunately today he’s feeling much better…except the sneezing…_

Kevin had a kind of flu that only affected shifters, so it wasn’t contagious to any other forms of supernatural or human. However it was highly contagious among shifters for the week long run. Luke had expressly forbade him from setting foot in the precinct for the entire run of it.

 

Simon really was trying not to laugh, but he just couldn’t help it. Generally he’d never laugh at a poor, sick friend…however this particular flu kind of made their shifting go a bit haywire…particularly when they sneezed.

 

Most every shifter, in their human form, still had a few traces of their creature counterpart. Just faint traces; Kevin was a Ceirw-dyn…a deer like shifter- Not A Satyr, not a Faun _(i-it’s, like, a whole ‘thing’ with him…he gets it all the time…it really tics him off)_ a **_ceirw-dyn._**

 

Usually he looks mostly human, save for the almost literal doe eyes, elfin looking ears, and the faint bit of his horns that stick up just a bit over his curly dark mahogany colored hair.

 

However with this cold every time he sneezes his shifting goes haywire- his ears and horns grow- his horns spring from less than three inches to over a foot and branch out, ears sprouting up as well, his skin tone fluctuates getting a dappled fawn like spotted pattern rippling across his skin, only for it to nearly all retreat just as quickly.

 

 _And again,_ it wouldn’t be so bad; but with Kevin it’s never just one sneeze, it’s a rapid fire string of them and…

 

_Yeah…Simon REALLY tries to keep the chuckling to himself,_

 

He slyly peeks over…

 

Kevin’s glaring

 

_Oops…apparently he didn’t cover it too well…_

Simon shook his head,

 

“S-sorry…I really was trying…” he offers apologetically,

 

Kevin huffs faintly, rolling his eyes, blowing a curly lock of dark hair out of his face, glaring weakly.

 

-Simon knew he was annoyed, and he did feel bad, but faintly annoyed and with the slightly red nose from the sneezing he kinda looked like a grumpy mix between Bambi and Rudolph…

 

_Not exactly intimidating_

He tired to bite back another chuckle, once again unsuccessfully,

 

“Some best friend you are.” He grumbled,

 

He put his hand up placatingly,

 

“Sorry man…you know I don’t mean anything by it…”

 

“Yeah, yeah…I know…anyways…if you’re done _laughing_ _at my pain_ …what happened with the High Warlock Of Brooklyn? I can’t believe this, I never get sick…this is the first time I’ve EVER had to miss work in the two years I’ve been there and I miss the most interesting thing to happen at the precinct all year!”

 

Simon chuckled, nodding quickly

 

“Oh yeah, dude by the end of the day we had five cops and eight suspects hiding in the records room, Officers Byrd, Phineas and Collins were hiding in the break room, and another almost eight packed into the observation room! That jackass ogre Brock was nearly hiding under a desk!

 

I heard five officers are putting in for transfers to other precincts!”

 

Kevin shook his head in surprise,

 

“Really, just from a two hour visit? I know the guys pretty intimidating- well, not like I know _personally_ or anything- but it’s not like he’s some maniac who goes around ‘smiting’ people for the smallest slight…

 

I mean it was just a few hours, seems a bit of an overreaction.”

 

Simon shrugged, taking a sip of his coffee.

 

“Well, actually it’s a bit more than that…”

 

Kevin tilted his head curiously, picking up his own cup,

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Well…see, Magnus _kinda_ told Alec that the reason he was at the scene was because he’s investigating it…that he’s starting a private detective agency.”

 

Kevin coughed, nearly spitting out the coffee he’d just drank, eyes wide in alarm….

 

“He’s what now?”

 

Simon nodded quickly

 

“I know right? I don’t really know what’s up with that. I think he was looking into the case, and I get the feeling he’s got something that the Supernaturals down at the station couldn’t find, so that’s good.

 

They’re actually going to be working the case with us.”

 

“W-wait…’they’?”

 

Simon nodded, blushing faintly,

 

“Uh…yeah…apparently Raphael _and_ Magnus are starting the Private Detective Agency…”

 

He burst out in a near giggle, eyes wide,

 

“Oh my god- The High Warlock Of Brooklyn and The head of the Brooklyn Vampire clan running a PI agency…

 

T-that is just too funny!”

 

Simon chuckled, nodding faintly

 

“It is kinda crazy, isn’t it?”

 

Kevin nodded quickly, trying to catch his breath,

 

“L-Like…how does that even work when the guys hunting down criminals and solving mysteries are more dangerous and mysterious than any actual cases they could get?”

 

Simon’s eyes widened, he bounced slightly, gesturing excitedly,

 

“Right!

 

I don’t know; I’m thinking it was just a lie on Magnus’s part to get to look into the case and flirt/annoy Alec more…

 

Raphael probably just said he was a part of it to try to keep Magnus from making it any worse.” He paused, shrugging

 

“I’m actually pretty glad they’re working on it. Magnus found some marks we missed. I didn’t recognize them but they were definitely sigils of some kind…and if none of the Supernatural’s at the precinct picked up on them then they have to be masked some way.”

 

Kevin nodded

 

“Yeah, I know Luke’s had pretty much every Magic, Fae, or shifter go down to see if they could pick up anything and so far absolutely nothing. Though, I suppose if anyone could find something it’d be Magnus.”

 

Simon gave an impressed nod

 

“Yeah… ** _dude_** …this guy was just crazy…I mean, you know, I’ve been around some fairly strong Magic’s and Fae and stuff before, but you could literally feel the power coming off him. I could feel it as soon as I turned onto the hallway with the interview rooms!

 

Like, I knew he was powerful, but there’s a big difference between hearing about it and actually seeing it…it wa-”

 

He trailed off, his phone chirping with an incoming text. Simon reached over, picking it up, scanning it…

 

“Ah, damnit…” he said softly, slumping back a bit, shaking his head,

 

Kevin tilted his head

 

“What is it?”

 

He sighed, pocketing the phone, already standing up from the couch,

 

“Alec, we got another body.”

 

“Man…I’m sorry…I wish I could help…if you need a-”

 

Simon cut him off, shaking his head,

 

“No, it’s okay… we’ll get it. You just need to get better…besides if your flu starts going around the precinct we’re liable to lose nearly half our force.

 

It’s fine; we have me, Alec, the High Warlock of Brooklyn AND the head of the Brooklyn Vampire clan…

 

Pretty sure with all that we can solve just about everything…

 

Though it’d be a hell of a lot easier if near every one of us wasn’t keeping something from the others…”

 

Kevin shook his head

 

“That’s gonna get really complicated.”

 

Simon snorted, nodded

 

“Tell me about it” he muttered, flashing a quick smile and a quick wave,

 

“Have a good day, if you need me to pick up anything on the way home just text me.”

 

Kevin smiled

 

“Kay, thanks Simon.”

 

He shrugged

 

“Eh, what are best friends for?”

 

“Tha-” he trailed off, face once more scrunching up,

 

“ _Ah-choo, Ah-choo **,** Ah-choo, Ah-choo **,** Ah-choo, Ah-choo **, Ah-choo!”**_

****

Simon snickered

 

**_“It’s not funny!”_ **

 

“Sorry!” Simon called back, slipping out the door, locking it behind him, heading for the stairs.

 

He pulled out his phone, checking the directions, sobering faintly,

 

_Two bodies in two days…that’s really not good…_

Well, not that any of this is ‘good’ but this kinda escalation was pretty much the worst case scenario.

 

If the killer was picking up speed, they really needed to do the same…

 

Good thing they now had help.

 

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ceirw-dyn = Deer-Man
> 
> Gwir-dyst= a human who can see supernaturals, generally greatly feared as they hunt supernatural, deeming them all monsters and abominations.
> 
> Okay I know there’s a bit of an emotional whiplash between the two parts, but I kind of prefer that. Usually I try to keep a pretty good balance between emotional, dramatic, fluffy and humorous scenes…seems to work best to me.
> 
>  
> 
> So those of you who’ve read my other series might recognize a few of the characters from the other series…I’ve decided I like my OC’s so much, I’m just gonna drag them into the other verses right along with the rest of our cast.
> 
> Raj WAS actually in Shadowhunters, but he was pretty undeveloped…like I literally couldn’t even find a canon last name for him (Honestly I didn’t see much of the 3rd season, so if they added one I missed it).
> 
> In the last Series I settled on Nadim (It means ‘drinking Buddy…I kind of have a thing about picking names that have meaning…unless they’re just like a filler character, like a quick mention or whatever.
> 
> Anytime I add a character that’ll be around for more than a chapter or two I’ll put the names meanings in the notes at the end of the chapter.)
> 
> Anyways, I know it’s a bit different feel than the last one, but what do you guys think so far?
> 
>  


	2. The Lesser Of Two Evils

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ** ***Chapter Complete!*** **
> 
> Simon calls Magnus to tell him about the case

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#  _ Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus _

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_Ugh, what the hell was that?_

Magnus groaned, rolling over, glaring at the blaring phone on his night stand, catching sight of the clock…

 

_Who the hell was calling him at 8am?!_

 

_He’d just got to bed at 5…_

 

He snapped his fingers, summoning it.

 

“This had better be important,” he snapped, not even bothering looking at the contact information.

 

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line.

 

“Umm…h-sorry…This is Detective Lewis, from yesterday? Did I wake you?” the voice asked hesitantly

_Magnus sighed, instantly regretting snapping at the boy…even if it was unbearably early…_

 

_It was like yelling at a puppy._

“Yes darling, you did…sorry for being so abrupt, had a rather late night. I’m usually not up until far later…you know, with the club and everything.” 

 

“Oh, yeah, sorry about that; I didn’t even think of it.”

 

“It’s no problem dear…so why exactly are you calling me so very early?”

 

On the other side of the phone Magnus heard a faint sigh,

 

“Yeah, sorry about that, but since you’re working the case too I thought we should all stay on the same page, you know; be honest, share information?

 

We have another victim. They were found about half an hour ago, in an alley on Rocklin Way. We're heading to the scene now, thought you might want to meet us there?”

 

Magnus pushed back the covers, already beginning to get out of bed, striding across the room.

 

“Yes, of course I will. Thank you for letting me know. What’s the address?”

 

“It’s the alley beside Dixon’s Florists, 1098 Rocklin Way.”

 

Magnus nodded, snapping his fingers, instantly clean and freshly showered, changing into his outfit for the day; a deep violet shirt, with black leather pants, and boots that were nearly black, but in actually a very deep purple, with a faintly scaled pattern  _(Okay, not so much ‘patterned’ as dragon skin…they were one of his favorites)._   

“It’ll just take me a few moments to get ready. I’m afraid Raph won’t be able to meet us yet. He had some rather pressing business, and a few meetings he can’t get out of. He should be free about five.”

 

“Oh, okay…that’s fine, but you’ll meet us?”

 

Magnus nodded, reaching up, quickly running his free hand through his hair, Magic shimmering and sparkling, instantly transforming the tangled birds nest into a perfectly upswept style, leaving just a bit of an iridescent shimmer that’d catch just so in the light.

 

“Yes, and thanks again for keeping me in the loop, I do appreciate it sweetheart.”

 

Simon gave a bit of a mirthless laugh that turned into a sigh,

 

“No, thank you, Magnus. This is the second death in as many days, that’s a lot quicker than any of the others…I think we need all the help we can get with this. I don’t know what it is, or who’s behind it, but it needs to be stopped.”

 

“You are absolutely right darling; I’ll meet you guys there. We will figure it out. See you soon sweetheart.”

 

“See you Magnus.”

 

He slipped the phone into his pocket, flickering his fingers once more, his usual assortment of necklaces and rings appearing. Walking over to his vanity he picked up his favorite earcuff, the antique silver dragon one, slipping it on, quickly summoning a black kohl eyeliner, applying it with a practiced, steady hand. This is one thing he never used Magic for; it was always calming, kind of centered him.

_He had a feeling for today he’d really need that._

 

Yesterday he’d been far too over the top with the detective, got too caught up in the pretty, oh so enticing man, all but forgetting the case. He really couldn’t have that happen again. Alec was quite addicting, almost intoxicating…he’d been nearly struck dumb by their first encounter  _(Well…not so much ‘dumb’ and embarrassingly desperate),_ but that really would have to wait until later.

 

There was a demon hunting humans. If it was a fevered rash of killings it could be some kind of aberration or a sickness. There were a few he knew that could affect lesser demons, cause them to become feral, lose their higher functioning abilities, rendering them little more than beasts, cause them to feed on humans as well as weaker Supernaturals.

 

He’s seen it before, dealt with it. But this? This was different. The killings weren’t rash, they weren’t bloody or gory. From what Simon had said they couldn’t even tell what killed the victims, they just looked like they’d sat down to take a bit of a rest.

 

No visible signs of a struggle, no marks (save the brands) or bruising would indicate it wasn’t motivated by hunger…at least not for food.

 

  The way it was described, as well as his inability to sense anything at the site without the added spell, hit a chord with him, bringing back a LONG forgotten chapter of his lessons, when Declan taught him about hanfod lladrata demons.

 

They were mid-level demons. A hanfod lladrata didn’t normally have a physical form, at least not one they could manifest in the human world right away.

 

They didn’t live in the human world, banished to Calon tywyll with the rest of the things deemed too much of a threat to humanity and the Supernatural world…however, one of their natural forms was an ephemera smoke, fog type vapor. They can’t travel across to the human world on their own, but _can_ be summoned.

 

When this happens the demon attaches to the one who summoned them. It works similar to a Djinn; granting ‘wishes’ promising to fulfill whatever desire the summonor has (which is generally something greedy and materialistic, or just plain evil…you don’t exactly summon a demon to help you ace a math test). In return for the ‘wishes’ the demon asks for sacrifices, until it absorbs enough strength to manifest it’s physical form it can’t interact with any other human save the one they are tethered to.

 

Declan had told him a great deal about demons, wanting him to understand that side. He was always very kind, and knew that Magnus saw that part of himself as evil, dark, wrong…that he saw his demon mark as shameful. He’d assured him it wasn’t, that what he was and where he came from- where his _powers_ come from- didn’t matter, it was what you did with them.

 

He’d stressed **_what_** a being was said nothing about who they were.

 

_Declan was always a bit of an odd one so far as demons go._

 

Still, Declan himself probably proved his point better than any words or lessons ever could have. He was- and still is- one of the best people Magnus has ever known.

 

Magnus had always been grateful for the man…and really, if you’re learning about demonic beings, creatures and linguistics, what better teacher than an _actual_ demon?

 

He taught him the different levels of demons, everything from greater demons like his father, which were _(Thankfully)_ exceedingly rare and near unimaginably powerful, all the way down to lesser demons, the most common type, who were just like any other Supernatural; simply trying to live their lives.

 

Declan even taught him about anifail; demonic animals from Calon tywyll. That actually proved quite useful as many still inhabited this world – some of the beings not deemed enough of a threat for total banishment to Calon tywyll. He tried to teach Magnus everything he knew ( _and the man knew a **lot** )_, and he never stopped trying to teach Magnus more.

 

Centuries of lessons have pretty well resulted in most of it becoming little more than a jumbled mess to Magnus, but this did spring back to mind.

 

Hanfod lladrata were thought to be very powerful and extremely dangerous once manifested in the human world. There are only two known ways to banish them. One is for the one who summoned it to send it back voluntarily. The other is for the human attached to the demon to be killed; this breaks the connection to this world and sends the demon back.

 

_Hopefully that isn’t what this is…it’s possible he’s misread it…he hopes that’s the case..._

 

One thing is for sure; if it is in fact a Hanfod lladrata they are dealing with this most definitely needs to be dealt with quickly.

 

Once the demon is fully manifested it no longer needs the human to gain access to victims. A midlevel demon on the loose would make this little spurt of six deaths look like nothing, and it wouldn’t just be humans that were in danger.

 

Alec was intoxicating, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t looking forward to seeing the man again,

 

But he needed to stay focused today…

 

A midlevel demon crossing over and wreaking havoc is slightly more important than flirting with a gorgeous detective with an insanely sexy voice…

 

_He just needed to remember that._

 

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

#  _ Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

 

“I can’t believe you actually called him…” Alec muttered shaking his head faintly

 

Simon gave a bit of a careless, somewhat frustrated wave,

 

“Hey, I know you have doubts about the dude, but he found something we didn’t at the last scene. I kind of get the feeling he’s not really the type to back down or just let something go-”

 

Alec gave a sharp laugh, nodding quickly

 

“Uh yeah…I don’t really see him backing down from anything.”

 

Simon smirked, shrugging,

 

“Right? So if that’s the case he’s going to be working this either way; may as well have him with us so we can get whatever info he finds. I doubt there’s a way having him working the case can make it any worse, and hopefully, if we are honest and upfront, he will be as well.

 

At this point I don’t really care who finds what, so long as it leads to us finding whoever is behind this and stopping them.”

 

Alec sighed, nodding faintly

 

“Yeah…just how he found that evidence still kinda bugs me… I really think if anything he had to at the very least have some clue what he was looking for; but you’re right. If he could find it once-through whatever way he did- hopefully he can do it again.

 

None of the other killings were this close together, that kind of acceleration is nerve-wracking. We need to get this solved as soon as possible, and if, in order to do that we need to team up with an odd, morally ambiguous, almost-certainly-some-kind-of-criminal who flirts WAY too much and seems to see near everything as a game;

 

Well, than that’s just what we have to do.

 

If it means no more lives lost to this, stopping the killings- if it means the public is safe- than it’s most definitely worth it. No question.”

 

Simon nodded in agreement, before settling back in the seat, absently flicking through something on his phone.

 

Alec stared out the windshield, letting his mind wander…Simon did make a good point; even though he didn’t know how the hell Magnus found the marks, it really was a good catch, and it was something that every actual trained investigator had missed.

 

Maybe he did have some kind of insider knowledge or the like, but, at this point, so long as the knowledge wasn’t because he was in actuality behind it, he didn’t really care how he got it. And it might not be **_so_** bad working with the man.

 

He’d been annoying yesterday; no question…the constant flirting was just baffling to Alec. He’d really been convinced that it was a way to distract him from the case. Was near certain. However after Magnus left and he’d had a bit of time to cool down _(And the embarrassing talk with Simon)_ he realized Magnus had seemed genuinely bewildered when Alec told him to drop the flirting act.

 

When he’d said he’d just been flirting with Alec because ‘he was hot and had a sexy voice’ _(and no...he most definitely didn’t have **that** replaying in his head all night…or the flirting…or that distracting, addicting, breathless, giddy feeling that indescribable ‘thing’ in his eyes caused)._

He may not know this Magnus very well- or really at all- but he’s always had a knack for reading people.

 

When Magnus had said he was flirting just because Alec was ‘Gorgeous’…everything he saw in his expression, body language and all the rest, said he was telling the truth.

 

_Which kinda threw Alec…_

_I mean, not that it changed anything…_

He was sure the man was into something dangerous- that he WAS something dangerous. The man sat off every alarm he had…nothing was going to happen between them…

 

Even if the man was surprisingly intelligent, and witty…and pretty entertaining when he wasn’t spouting truly abysmal pickup lines…and attractive… _really attractive_ …okay so the man was without a doubt the single most beautiful person he’d ever seen.

 

_Still; danger, alarms, heavily involved in something almost unquestionably criminal…_

_Not happening…_

**_It wasn’t…_ **

****

He’d be lying if he said the man’s attention wasn’t a bit of a thrill though…

 

_Umm…but…that wasn’t important now._

It didn’t matter how gorgeous the man was…or how confusing, irritating, stimulating, and thrilling…

 

They had a case to solve- now **_six_** to solve, it needed to stop. Surely they could be mature and put aside whatever personal issues they had for that.

 

But Simon did have a point yesterday…he was totally unprofessional in the interview. He’d been rude, sharp and even purposefully baited the man more than once… _not that Magnus really seemed to **mind…**_ actually he seemed to kind of get a kick out of it…which…umm… _uh-not important_ -

 

Still, he’s the head detective of the BPD; he should have more self control than that.

 

Whatever else he might be (and Alec got the feeling that was a **_lot_** ) Magnus seemed a very intelligent, unnervingly fearless man who didn’t back down and likely knew his way around the criminal elements. That could definitely come in handy.

 

If they were going to be working together on this case, it couldn’t be like yesterday. They both needed to stay levelheaded and focused.

 

Alec nodded to himself.

 

Today was going to be different,

 

_He would be sure of it._

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hanfod lladrata =essence stealing
> 
> ****
> 
> **_Declan= Man Of Prayer, full of goodness_ **
> 
> ****
> 
> As you can tell I'm kinda going with something a bit untraditional for the demons in this verse. I never like it when it's so cut and dry- this is this so it's automatically bad...  
>  That's just boring to me. I always like mixing it up a bit…
> 
> It’s kinda different, but I think it’ll make the stories more interesting.
> 
>  
> 
> Okay, so the second part was pretty short and it’s mainly just Alec thinking, but I wanted to see both their views.
> 
> I like them both deciding they need to be more mature this time…
> 
> Don’t know how well they’ll execute it…
> 
> But it’s nice they’re going into on the same page.
> 
> _Anyways, what do you guys think?_


	3. Common Ground in an Uncommon Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> ## ***Chapter Complete!***
> 
>  
> 
> Magnus and Alec come to an understanding…

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#  _ Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus _

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Magnus turned, closing the portal with a quick snap. He slipped out of the alleyway, making his way down the street towards the crime scene. He’d materialized the portal about three blocks away, it was going to be a bit of a walk, but that was for the best.

 

He’d been unable to put off leaving, eager to begin the case, to hopefully find out what was going on (and with any luck find something that’d disprove his first theory…he was really hoping it wasn’t a Hanfod lladrata.) He couldn’t put it off, however Simon knew he’d woke him up. It might be rather suspicious to show up ten minutes after the call.

 

The walk would add another ten minutes. Even that might seem a bit quick, but he could play it off well enough. He figured it’d also help center him, which he was sure he’d need today; he really must stay focused-

 

  _On the case, not the gorgeous detective he’d be working with._

 

Magnus took the last turn, spotting Alec’s car parked in front of the taped off alleyway. He paused at the entrance to the alley, spotting Simon and Alec standing over talking to what looked like some kind of CSI tech.

 

**_Wow_ ** _…he looked even better today…_

His suit was still dreadful- the dear truly seemed either greatly impaired or totally indifferent so far as fashion was concerned. There was one up side to it today however. It seemed perhaps Alec had that suit for a while, or maybe he just settled on a jacket that was not quite the right size. It was a bit tight…which really emphasized the detective’s shoulders…and arms…

 

_Hmm…maybe the suit wasn’t SO bad after all_

His hair was rather mussed, almost as if he’d just rolled out of bed, or he’d been running his fingers though it (both of which instantly sent Magnus’s mind somewhere decidedly NOT crime scene appropriate).

 

Okay…he was kind of remembering why he had such trouble focusing yesterday…but he could today…

 

He thinks

 

Probably…

_Oh for heaven sakes get it together! You’re the High Warlock Of Brooklyn, one of the most powerful beings in the supernatural world._

You’re not going to let some pretty, overly serious detective with a sexy voice throw you off.

 

**_You won’t._ **

****

_And anyw-_

_Oh crap, he’s looking over here!_

While Magnus’s mind was…doing whatever the hell _that_ was, Alec and Simon had finished their conversation with the tech, Alec looking up, spotting him. He turned back to Simon, quickly saying something before nodding over to where he was standing. Simon glanced up, sending Magnus a quick smile and faint wave. Alec turned from his partner, making his way over. He stopped just in front of him, pulling the police tape up for Magnus.

 

He slipped under, couldn’t help turning to him, quirking his eyebrow, giving the detective a faint smirk, leaning in just a little,

 

“My, my, how chivalrous, ever the gentleman.

 

Morning gorgeous…figured after yesterday I’d simply wait here. Not that I’d necessarily mind you hauling me in for questioning, being all forceful and firm again…but I suppose all things considered we really don’t have time for the fun stuff today.”

 

Alec shook his head, rolling his eyes slightly, a faint blush tingeing his cheeks, before sighing,

 

“We really don’t. And…umm…a-about yesterday…” he hesitated, scratching nervously at his neck, glancing up, meeting Magnus’s eyes.

 

Magnus felt a bit of a flutter in his chest, suddenly rather breathless.

 

“Magnus-I wanted to apologize; I was completely out of line in the interview, it really wasn’t like me. I was rude, disrespectful and just all around unprofessional. That really isn’t who I am; I hope you’ll give me a second chance?” He paused, giving him an apologetic smile

 

Magnus was absolutely shocked; he swallowed, shaking his head faintly. Alec’s face fell slightly, Magnus reached forward, catching his arm, giving him a slight smile,

 

“Sweetheart, you have absolutely nothing to apologize for. If anything I do. I was teasing you the entire time, purposefully baiting you, pushing…I was far too over the top. You were _working_ ; trying to solve a case, trying to catch a murderer, and I just couldn’t stop throwing the most embarrassingly desperate lines at you I could think of, and all but calling you out at near every turn.

 

It…I mean, not that I am in anyway required to remain _‘professional’_ but it was about the farthest from professional you can get.” He paused, giving a slight chuckle, and a faint shrug

 

“I do apologize darling. Honestly that was totally out of character for me as well, probably even more so than you were.”

 

Alec tilted his head curiously,

 

“So you don’t usually flirt all the time?”

 

Magnus gave a slight chuckle,

 

“Oh, no I do that…I’m just usually quite a bit better at it.”

 

Alec gave a surprised laugh, before glancing around, realizing it was rather loud for a crime scene. He blushed faintly, stilling for a moment, a thought seeming to occur to him, he looked back at Magnus,

 

“Umm…so, why were you pushing me so much? I mean, I figured the flirting was just the easiest way to get a reaction, but…why?”

 

Magnus quirked his eyebrow, shrugging,

 

“Honestly? People don’t talk to me like that, they don’t react to me like that…and I cannot remember the last time I had someone- with the exception of Raph or Clary- call me out on something.

 

It was refreshing…and kind of thrilling, and I’m afraid I seemed to get rather carried away. But that is no excuse; the fact of the matter is I was out of line, and I do apologize.”

 

Alec blinked a couple times in surprise,

 

“Umm…why don-….” He paused, shaking his head

 

“You know…I’m not going to ask…this case isn’t about why people would be hesitant to call you out on anything…I don’t think...right?”

 

Magnus gave a slight breath of a laugh, eyes bright and slightly playful,

 

“No darling.”

 

A flicker of something slipped across his expression before he just took a deep breath, giving a faint nod. He looked back up, meeting Magnus’s eyes,

 

“Okay, cards on the table? I know you’re into something that is probably not legal.

 

I know you’re a hell of a lot more than just a bored club owner, and there’s probably a really good reason why when I brought you in over half the people in the precinct reacted as if I’d walked in with a tiger or some other predator-”

 

“Detective, you’re mistaken I-” Magnus started, but Alec held his hand up, shaking his head,

 

“No, I’m not. But right now I really don’t care about that. There is someone murdering people in my city; branding them, taking their lives and leaving them posed and staged like some kind of prop.

 

I really don’t care whatever else you’re into right now; this needs to stop. Two bodies in two days is far faster than any of the others…if the killer’s ramping up, we need to as well. We need every bit of help available.

 

I get the feeling whatever you are into gets you access to things, information, and people that we just don’t have, maybe even things connected to this case. I won’t ask what it is; I’m just asking you to do whatever you can to help us make the people of this city safe.” He trailed off, not really sure what more he could add, he glanced up, then froze,

 

“Alec; Brooklyn is my home, this is MY city. Something, someone threatening it is not acceptable, and must be dealt with, no question.

 

I will help in any way I can.” Magnus said in a calm, rather disquieting tone, eyes sparking dangerously, magic flaring up, seeping in, lending a melodic resonances to his words.

 

 Alec gulped, blinking a couple times,

 

“Uhh…o-okay…thank you…

 

I think.” He trailed off hesitantly, clearly looking like he was already rethinking this truce thing, wondering exactly how Magnus thought the thing should be ‘dealt’ with.

 

Magnus chuckled softly, pulling his magic back, reaching over, lightly resting his hand on Alec’s arm,

 

“Don’t worry gorgeous; I’ll play nice. This is your case; it will be dealt with as any crime investigated by the proper authorities.  Just think of me as a little extra back up.”

 

Alec gave a slightly breathless half laugh,

 

“I get the feeling you’re a lot more than just a ‘little extra’ back up.”

 

Magnus smirked, tilting his head, eyes sparking with interest; he reached up, lightly tracing his finger along Alec’s cheek, Alec seemed to unconsciously lean into it,

 

“That, my darling detective, is because you are as clever as you are gorgeous…

 

Mmm…I do believe you may be trouble, _detective_.”

 

Alec flushed brilliantly, glancing away,

 

“Yeah, **_I’m_** the trouble here.”

 

Magnus gave a delighted laugh, and a flirty wink, leaning in closer,

 

“The important thing is you admit it.”

 

Alec bit his lower lip, giving a faint smile, drifting closer, before seemingly realizing something, glancing around. He took a deep breath, stepping back, shaking his head faintly,

 

“Umm…w-sorry, we really don’t have time for this…”

 

Magnus sighed,

 

“You are right darling, my apologies. I’m afraid I got rather side tracked, yet again…as I said in the interview; you are rather distracting gorgeous.”

 

Alec shrugged, scratching at his neck,

 

“Not nearly as distracting as you…but we really can’t afford distractions right now. We now have six cases to solve and a killer that seems to be ramping up; we really need to stay focused.”

 

Magnus nodded,

 

“I completely agree. We are both intelligent, strong willed, level headed, adults…we can remain professional and stay on track.

 

Right?”

 

He looked up meeting Alec’s eyes, extending his hand. Alec reached forward, taking his hand in a strong, firm grip, shaking it decisively.

 

“Right.”

 

Magnus squeezed once more, lingering a moment, before letting go, nodding faintly, turning to begin examining the scene…

 

_He told himself the slight breathlessness and fluttering in his stomach was just anticipation of the case…_

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

#  _ Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus _

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“The Victims had his wallet, name was David Decker. He was thirty two, a paramedic. A couple teens on their way to school heard his phone ringing, came to check it out, and found him. They were pretty shook up, they’re down at the station giving statements now, but I don’t think they know anything more about it. The officer at the scene called the number back- it was Decker’s boss, apparently she’d talked to him last night and he’d agreed to fill in for a 6am shift this morning. She was rather irritated at first as when she’d called him he was at a club-”

 

“Did he happen to mention which one?” Magnus interrupted

 

Alec paused, shaking his head,

 

“No, he didn’t say, she just remembered he’d had to step outside to take the call as it was very loud- said she could barely hear him over the blaring ‘disco’ music. The call was just after 10:30, the coroner thinks that he was killed between 11 and 1am.”

 

“Huh…She specifically said disco music?” Magnus tilted his head consideringly,

 

Alec quirked his eyebrow

 

“Umm…yeah, why?”

 

“Xander’s over on 38th street has theme nights. I believe yesterday was 70’s…it’s three blocks over. That could be where he was when he received the call.”

 

 

Alec blinked in surprise, giving a slight nod,

 

“That seems like a definite possibility. We’ll absolutely have to look into that.”

 

Magnus gave a slight shrug,

 

“Hey, I know the night life around here.”

 

“Have to keep an eye out on the competition, huh?”

 

Magnus smirked,

 

“Oh sweetheart, I have no competition.”

 

Alec rolled his eyes,

 

  “Anyways, we’ll definitely have someone go over and ask around, maybe see if we can get the security cameras…if that’s where he was it’s possible he met the killer there. You said it’s on 38th?”

 

Magnus nodded

 

“Decker lived on Oakhurst; it’s ten blocks in the other direction. If he had a shift at 6am he’d of probably been about ready to call it a night, I’m not sure how he ended up here though…”

 

Magnus shook his head

 

“That is rather odd…also there are two clubs closer to this area…and dozens of alleys between here and there.

 

Why here? Like you said, if he was supposed to be at work at 6am I couldn’t see him staying much longer. I suppose he could have met someone and decided to go home with them, which would explain the rather random location. I’d assume whoever he left with was the killer…

 

But what I don’t get is again why here? If they’re planning on doing…whatever it is they’re doing that’s killing them clearly they’re not going to take them home… why specifically lead someone three blocks to a seemingly random alleyway, when you had to have passed easily a dozen near identical alleyways on the way?” he trailed off, looking between the two detectives,

 

They both shrugged, Simon tilted his head consideringly

 

“Huh…maybe we need to look at the locations, see if there’s anything special about them, any links. You’re right it is awful strange that they’d lead them three blocks away.

 

I guess they could have been trying to cover where they picked the victim up…but you’re right, there were plenty of other places between Xander’s and here.” he froze eyes widening, bouncing lightly on his heels, pointing excitedly,

 

“Oh! And the markings would indicate they chose this location first!”

 

Magnus and Alec both nodded

 

“That’s absolutely right. If the locations are chose before hand, then there has to be a reason. We’ll have to really go over them, look for a connection. Any possible way to link them

 

Also, yesterday I had gone to clubs that were closest to the scenes, but if Decker was at a club three blocks away we’ll need to expand our search criteria.” Alec paused, a smirk flickering on his face

 

“If he walked three blocks he had to have passed a few security cameras. We’ll have officers go around to businesses along the routes from the club to here- he’s sure to have been caught by one of them.”

 

Magnus gave him an impressed smile

 

 “Very good sweetheart”

 

Alec shrugged, reaching over, resting his hand on Magnus’s shoulder, squeezing, Magnus tried to ignore the fluttering in his stomach-

 

They were working a murder case, the suspect in which was a demon- or working with/possibly being controlled by a demon- this was hardly the time to get butterflies in his stomach…

 

_Also he was the High Warlock Of Brooklyn, not a thirteen year old girl with a crush…_

That didn’t stop him from leaning into the touch just a bit,

 

“Wouldn’t have figured it out without you. Anyways, clearly we need to search the scene thoroughly. We will need to be sure to check everything…

 

Speaking of which, the prelim on the body should be done later today, but the M.E.’s been running full, broad spectrum toxicology reports and triple checking everything on these, so it’s likely she won’t have the entire workup ready until tomorrow morning.”

 

Magnus tilted his head curiously,

 

“That seems rather a long wait when time is of the essence…”

 

Alec sighed, shrugging

 

“I know it is, but with us not knowing what is actually killing them she wants to be sure nothing is left unaccounted for. Everyone’s getting a lot of pressure for this, but she refuses to rush the evidence. She insists it’s better to go a bit slower and be sure you get everything rather than end up rushing through and missing something entirely.”

 

Simon nodded,

 

“Yeah, Izzy’s awesome; she really won’t let anyone push her into anything. Like, she actually said ‘I will not rush the work and risk missing something just to make sure you don’t lose a few voter points’ directly to the mayor when she called her, trying to push her along…Luke’s not even brave enough to do that! She’s kinda a badass.”

 

Magnus quirked his eyebrow,

 

“My, she sounds quite impressive…do I detect a bit of a crush?”

 

Simon blushed faintly, shaking his head,

 

“Umm…no, well, yeah, for like my first two weeks at the station. I mean, that’s kinda hard to avoid; Izzy’s great, super smart, beautiful, and really cool, and everything…but she’s also totally uninterested in guys. It’s probably for the best anyways. We’re way better as friends. She’s a great wingman, and really great to just hang out with…plus she’s kinda scary before she has her coffee.”

 

Alec gave a sharp scoffing laugh

 

“She’s not ‘kinda scary’ she’s a holy terror in the mornings. I’ve had her throw her own phone at me, then yell at me for breaking it!”

 

Magnus’s eyebrows rose

 

“And you said you were unprofessional the other day…”

 

Alec chuckled, shaking his head

 

“Well, that wasn’t when she was a Medical Examiner- it was back in high school…” he paused shrugging,

 

“She’s my little sister. She’s grown up a bit since then, though she’s still horrendous in the mornings, if she ever has to be in her lab before eight I never go anywhere near it without a Venti mocha with a triple shot of espresso.”

 

Magnus chuckled, nodding,

 

“Hmm, good to know. I’ll remember that for tomorrow morning.

 

Well, as it seems the body is in quite capable- if rather aggressive- hands, I suppose we should show we can be just as thorough with the scene, yes?” he glanced between the two detectives, they both nodded,

 

“Yeah; we’ll spread out, check the entire scene. I already checked, the same markings are present here that you found at the last scene” Alec paused, giving him a slight smile

 

“Like I said, it really was a good catch, after we finish up here I’d like to go back to the other scenes, and see if we can find out what’s so special about these sites.”

 

Magnus felt a bit of a thrilling buzz at that smile, he tilted his head in agreement,

 

“Yes, of course darling; whatever you want.”

 

Alec flushed faintly, biting his lip, glancing away,

 

“Umm…tha-uh…okay, let’s get started here. W-we’re just gonna start over here.” he stammered out, gesturing awkwardly over his shoulder,

 

Magnus couldn’t help a bit of a smirk,

 

“Whatever you say, I am more than happy to follow your lead, gorgeous.”

 

Alec huffed out a faint embarrassed laugh,

 

“Will you stop that?” he grumbled

 

Magnus chuckled, shrugging

 

“Sorry, I am afraid I can’t…don’t seem to be able the help it, darling. Don’t worry; I’m sure after a bit you won’t even notice it.”

 

Alec scoffed, shaking his head

 

“Yeah, no way that’s gonna happen…”

 

Magnus gave one more faint chuckle, reaching over, resting his hand on Alec’s arm, patting lightly,

 

“In that case, I suppose I will just do my best to behave. Though that’s never really been my strong suit…

 

Still, just for you, my darling detective, I will try.”

 

Alec rolled his eyes,

 

“Thanks.”

 

Magnus shot him a flirty wink

 

“No problem gorgeous.”

 

Alec shook his head, fighting off a faint blush

 

“Let’s just get to work, please?”

 

Magnus gave a bit of a flourishing gesture and a slight bow,

 

“As you wish, darling.”

 

Alec shook his head once more, turning away beginning over towards the left wall.

 

Simon chuckled faintly, giving Magnus a slight smile,

 

“Thanks for coming Magnus, we really do appreciate the help, you’ve already helped us figure out where the victim was likely before he was killed…” he glanced over at Alec before lowering his voice, leaning a bit closer

 

“Besides I think having you here might be good for Alec. He’s always so serious but this case is really getting to him. And if you could catch those marks I doubt there’s too much else that’ll get past you.

 

Thanks again.”

 

Magnus shrugged

 

“It is no problem, as I told Alec; this is my home, my city…Someone hunting in it, killing innocents in it…that is unacceptable. It needs to be stopped, as quickly as possible. I am glad to help.”

 

Simon blinked a couple times, before giving a quick, relieved nod, glancing around the scene

 

“You’re right about that…but I think with the four of us working it we’ll be able to figure it out.”

 

Magnus nodded, reaching over, resting his hand on Simon’s shoulder,

 

“You are quite right sweetheart. We have this.”

 

Simon nodded once more before giving a slight wave, wandering over by Alec, leaning in to examine one of the enchantment runes. His gaze drifted back to the head detective, lingering momentarily.

 

Magnus startled, taking a deep breath, shaking his head,

 

_Alright, enough distractions:_

 

There’s a demon hunting humans in HIS city, it needs to be dealt with, there was no way around it. Right now that was his priority, not the gorgeous, exciting, already far too addicting, detective.

 

The demon took priority.

 

Once they had that dealt with he could go back to playing with the pretty detective.

 

He knew the whole ‘private detective agency’ thing was a lie, a way to get on the case and get a reaction from Alec, but the more he thought about it, it could actually be quite useful. If anything this case showed just how quickly humans could began to panic, to take notice of the supernatural…

 

A private Detective agency specializing in Unusual/ possibly supernatural cases would be the perfect way to keep an ear out. It would allow him to find out what Supernaturals in his territory were drawing too much attention and put a stop to it before it got to the point of panicking the public…

 

_Also, it would give him an excuse to see/talk to/flirt with the gorgeous detective quite often._

He was already planning…

 

But that would have to wait till later.

 

He shook his head once more, coming back to the case at hand. Glancing around he caught sight of Alec and Simon standing close to the back of the alley, by the left wall, examining the second enchantment rune, seemingly comparing the marks.

 

Magnus took a deep breath, closing his eyes, rolling his shoulders, quickly repeating the spell from yesterday in his head. He blinked his eyes open, the colors of the alley fading, though he slowed it before it began to effect sound, only allowing the spell to take effect partway- he wasn’t alone and it wouldn’t do to be unaware of his surroundings with two entirely human detectives examining the scene at the same time. Besides this way he could still talk to and interact with them without it seeming too off- also if he didn’t go all the way under coming out of it was far less uncomfortable.

 

He blinked once more, the red splotches once more shimmering into focus, everything coming into sharper detail. He turned his head slowly, taking in everything. This time the last Mark was on a mail box, situated at the end of the alley. Just a bit to the side of it he saw a faint scuff, there was something odd about it…almost as if someone had stumbled, or perhaps was pulled a few steps, it was just at the edge of the alleyway.

 

Hmm…so the victim was likly led for three blocks…in the opposite direction from their home. He supposed the human could just be a real sweet talker, or very attractive, able to convince the victim to follow them. However, if someone was supposed to be at work at such an early time- much less at a rather high stress job in the medical field, they probably wouldn’t just follow some random stranger for three blocks for a hook up.

 

His mind drifted back to what he found yesterday. There was a human working with the demon. He didn’t want to jump to any conclusions, but, thinking back to the marks- they’d been fainter than the rest…it was likely they were made by the human, yet they still showed up with traces of the demonic energy.

 

That would only happen if the demon gave the human some abilities. It would stand to reason- and unfortunately it fit right in with a hanfod lladrata. A human summoning a demon to help them become more powerful, more attractive, have more sway over others would be practically textbook.

 

If the human had a bit of demonic sway, all it would take is a simple touch- it would work similar to the enchantment runes, though not as powerful, dampening the humans senses and instincts, making them more agreeable, less suspicious.

 

The faint scuff marks at the beginning of the alley would suggest that they hesitated there…a bit of their instincts cutting through the demonic sway. It wouldn’t be unusual- most humans can’t sense Supernaturals, however in dire circumstances they will almost always sense the threat, even if they can’t pinpoint why it’s a threat.

 

So the human led the victim here for the sacrifice… the Victim hesitated, but the human pulled them past the barrier. Once they crossed over the enchantment runes they would have totally been helpless.

 

However the question remains,

 

_Why here?_

There were dozens of alleyways and the like on the route from the club to here…and for that matter, why this _specific_ person?

 

He hadn’t heard of any precise qualifications for sacrifices, any human should do…

 

Why lead a specific human three blocks to a specific alley?

 

This was planned, every part of it…

 

He’d taken a bit of extra time before heading out, quickly brushing up on what was known about the demon. A hanfod lladrata needed a set amount of sacrifices to manifest in the human world, it was anywhere between three and thirteen, depending on the inherent power the demon already possessed- More powerful demons needed more energy to cross over.

 

As the killings were still just absorbing the humans’ energy it would stand to reason they hadn’t got enough yet…

 

Thankfully…

 

Though the more it took the stronger the being trying to cross over was…

 

It was kind of a catch twenty-two…

 

It bought them more time, but meant what they would be facing would be quite a bit stronger.

 

Even so, it seemed there was more in play here than a demon trying to manifest in the human world.

 

Now he just had to figure out what that was.

 

He tilted his head, letting his gaze slide over the alleyway, looking for anything more that stood out. The pale red marks were on the walls, just as before, he could see the garish glowing red area where the body had crumpled…

 

Once more he could see the imprint of the demonic writing, it was a deep, glowing, ominous red, leaning forward he tried to make it out, but the words weren’t making sense- as they were an imprint they were backwards…he wasn’t familiar enough with the language to be able to translate it like this…

 

Hopefully when they went to see the M.E. he’d get a chance to look over the body- if he could see the original he’d be able to read them.

 

That would help a-

 

_Wait…what’s that?_

Looking down another mark caught his eye. He knelt down to get a closer look. There was some dust kicked over it, clearly intentionally, but he could see the faint glow.

 

Leaning closer he flicked his fingers, magic glittering, blowing softly the dust scattering, revealing the shimmering red mark…

 

“Oh, that is not good…”

 

“What’s not good?”

 

He startled, glancing up seeing Alec and Simon standing next to him, looking at him inquisitively,

 

He must have went a bit further into the spell than he’d intended, he hadn’t even heard them come up,

 

“Did you find something? You’ve been so quiet for the last hour we almost forgot you were here, we’ve already been over the rest of the place, but you seemed pretty focused.”

 

_Okay, he was definitely further into the spell then he’d meant to be if he’d lost nearly an hour._

 

He sighed, nodding, indicating the mark on the ground, right in the center of the alley.

 

The other two men knelt down, trying to get a closer look,

 

Alec tilted his head curiously,

 

 “What is it?”

 

Simon shrugged

 

“I don’t know…but it’s definitely purposeful.” He tilted his head, glancing over at Magnus,

 

“Do you know what it is? You said it wasn’t good…”

 

_Crap…can’t really back out now…_

He sighed, nodding faintly,

 

“It’s a summoning sigil.”

 

Alec’s eyebrow quirked up,

 

“Umm…I don’t know what that is…but I get the feeling it’s not really going to help cut down on the crazy theories and concerned calls.”

 

Magnus shook his head

 

“I am afraid you are quite right detective.

 

A summoning sigil is used in occult and other magic rituals, said to be a way to summon spirits, dark energy, demons and basically anything else that you probably shouldn’t try to invite into this plane of existence.”

 

“Oh, great…so our killer is trying to summon demons and dark spirits…because that’ll go a long way to calming the public.” Alec muttered, rubbing his temple,

 

Simon tilted his head, looking closer with interest, before glancing back at Magnus,

 

“So…if it’s a summoning sigil, are the killings maybe sacrifices to whatever they’re trying to summon?”

 

Magnus blinked in surprise

 

_Wow…kid was pretty quick…_

Magnus tilted his head curiously, Simon shrugged

 

“I have the complete run of Buffy, Angel and the first five seasons of Supernatural- before it got too complicated to follow- along with several others. What can I say? I’m kinda a nerd-

 

But it does have its advantages.”

 

Magnus gave him a slight affectionate smile, nodding

 

“So it would seem. And yes, that would be my thinking as well.”

 

Alec shook his head

 

“Okay I get Simon knowing this stuff, how do you? No offense Magnus, but you don’t exactly strike me as the type to sit at home binging scifi/fantasy shows…”

 

He chuckled, shaking his head

 

“Actually I believe I’ll take that as a compliment. You are right on that darling, though I do have very wide and varied tastes and interests…you’d be amazed at just how much random knowledge I have.”

 

Alec’s eyebrows rose

 

“And one of those interests is Summoning demons and ritual sacrifices?”

 

Magnus gave a surprised laugh, shaking his head

 

“No darling…my tastes are pretty varied, but not quite _that_ varied. A dear friend of mine has an occult shop…she’s exceptionally well versed in this kind of thing and I spend quite a bit of time at her shop…truthfully it’s one of my favorite places in the entire city.”

 

Simon brightened, bouncing on his heels slightly,

 

“Hey, do you think she’d be okay with us coming in, having a look around…maybe she could look at the marks see if she could tell us anything else about them?”

 

Magnus hesitated,

 

Alec gave him a curious look

 

“Would she have a problem helping with the case?”

 

He sighed, shaking his head

 

“No, not at all, she’s a dear girl, very empathic- she would love to help protect people, I’ve no doubt she’d do near everything she could…”

 

“So…why don’t you want us to go see her?”

 

Magnus shrugged,

 

“In truth, she’s the reason I got involved in the case in the first place. Someone vandalized her shop-

 

Nothing major, threw a rock through her window, scrawled cruel, hateful things on the walls, broke a few things.”

 

Simon gasped

 

“Is she okay?”

 

Magnus gave him a gentle smile, nodding

 

“Yes, the girl is remarkably strong, but it still rattled her.”

 

Alec tilted his head

 

“That’s a relief, at least she’s okay…did she file a report? We c-”

 

Magnus shook his head

 

“No she didn’t…she feels the culprits were just terrified by the murders, by the rumors it’s something supernatural. She thinks they panicked and lashed out at the one connection to the supernatural they saw.

 

She’s annoyingly forgiving.” He grumbled,

 

Alec nodded

 

“It sounds like it, way more than I’d be, that’s for sure…

 

 Well, I get why you don’t want to drag her into it, but if we’re finding odd symbols and things to summon something it would really help to have an expert on the subject.

 

 Could you maybe just call and ask her? We won’t take up much of her time, and it could really help?” he asked hopefully

 

Magnus sighed, looking between the two detectives,

 

_Ugh…how the hell was he supposed to say no to that look?_

**_Either of them…_ **

****

_Seriously Simon?_ How does a human even **_have_** eyes that big and bright? It’s like the guys a living anime character! He wonders if the kids somehow part Ci-dyn…

 

_No human should have puppy eyes that good…_

 

And Alec?

 

God, the man is just so **_damn_** sincere…if he’d of just been a stern, pushy detective like yesterday Magnus could have blew it off, said she’s out of town or something but, hell…

 

There was no argument for that expectant, vaguely hopeful, oh so genuine look.

 

_It was worse than Simon’s puppy eyes…_

Finally he huffed, rolling his eyes,

 

“Oh very well, I’ll give her a call, see if she’s free...god, no wonder Luke said you’re his best…who the hell can say no to that.” he grumbled mostly to himself, turning slightly, pulling his phone out, quickly clicking Clary’s number.

 

“Hey Mag’s…wow…up before noon, everything okay?”

 

He chuckled, shaking his head

 

“Good morning Biscuit…I know it’s rather early for me, but apparently crime refuses to wait for a decent hour.”

 

“Crime?! Magnus what are you doing! I told you not t-”

 

“Sweetheart, relax, breath…I’m _investigating_ the crime, remember yesterday? I said I would help.”

 

She sighed

 

“Oh thank goodness…have you found anything yet?”

 

He nodded

 

“Yes, actually we have.”

 

She paused,

 

“We?”

 

“Yes…As I was investigating yesterday one of the detectives working the case spotted me at the scene and took me in for questioning-”

 

“What!? How the hell d-…oh, he’s really hot, right?”

 

Magnus chuckled, glancing over at Alec, gaze lingering

 

“You know me so well biscuit…and yes, he’s absolutely gorgeous.”

 

Alec sputtered, flushing brilliantly

 

Magnus grinned

 

“Particularly when he blushes” he added winking

 

Alec flushed more, glaring, making a hurry up motion

 

On the phone Clary huffed out a slight laugh,

 

“Mags I can hear him fuming over the phone, stop tormenting the poor guy, he’s just doing his job.”

 

Magnus gave an exaggerated gasp

 

“I am not tormenting him!”

 

“Yes he is.” Both Alec and Simon chimed in, perfectly in sync

 

Clary giggled on the phone, Magnus rolled his eyes at the lot of them,

 

“In any case…we’re at the latest scene and found some unusual markings…they look to be summoning sigils. The detective was hoping we could come by and you could have a look see if you could tell us anything.”

 

“So…you got distracted by the cute boy, said something unintentional, and had to cover by saying you knew about it from my occult shop, and now they’re pushing you to come see me because they need an expert in the occult and a wiccan running an occult shop is probably a more creditable expert than what is supposed to be a normal club owner?”

 

He gave a relieved sigh

 

“Exactly…but if you don’t want to I-”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous, I’ll help in any way I can, bring them on over.”

 

He huffed faintly

 

“Of course you will…Thank you darling, we’ll be over in about twenty minutes, we’ll just come around to the emergency exit, I know the front is still boarded up from yesterday…I trust there was no other trouble? Though I was sure to put the excess paint under the sink in the storage room just in case.”

 

“And you told them about the break in…I’ll make sure the place smells like fresh paint and remove the window pane…

 

Don’t worry I’ll be ready.”

 

_He smiled to himself…_

_The girl really was quite intuitive…it really did come in handy in these types of situations…_

“Wonderful, see you in about half an hour biscuit.” He finished, ending the call, slipping the phone back into his pocket, glancing back at the detectives.

 

“Well…I believe we’ve found everything we can here, how about we make one more pass than we can head on over to the shop?”

 

The two detectives nodded, Simon got an eager smile

 

“I’ve never been to an occult shop before…sounds kinda cool.”

 

Magnus smirked,

 

“It’s absolutely Magical.”

 

Simon gave a surprised laugh, shaking his head

 

“Dude, and I thought _I_ made bad puns…I have a feeling we’re gonna get along pretty well.”

 

“I have a feeling you’re right darling.” Magnus said, slipping his arm around the younger man’s shoulders

 

“I have a feeling I’m gonna end up ditching you two somewhere before the end of the day.” Alec muttered, rolling his eyes at the other two

 

Simon scoffed, shaking his head

 

“Dude, no way that’s happening, Magnus has a friend who’s an expert in occult stuff and I have an encyclopedic knowledge of like, every supernatural/fantasy show known to nerds. You’re knowledge of the occult and supernatural is limited to like, picking costumes for Halloween parties you were dragged to growing up and the times Jace used a Ouija board when you guys had sleepovers as kids…

 

It’d take you weeks of binge watching to get caught up…

 

Face it dude, you need us.”

 

Alec scoffed, shaking his head

 

“I can’t believe I’m working a case where a trip to an occult store and binge watching Buffy is considered ‘investigating’…”

 

Simon reached over, slipping his arm around Alec’s shoulder, patting firmly,

 

“Well you are partner…it’s okay though…I totally got you covered on this one. Been studying for this practically my whole life.”

 

Alec huffed, rolling his eyes, snipping back at the other detective.

 

Magnus shook his head in amusement at the other two. The three of them beginning making their way around the alley for a final pass, Magnus shaking off the spell, blinking a couple times, rolling his neck, glancing out the mouth of the alleyway, before turning back to the other two men…

 

_It was ironic…_

Had Magnus still had the spell in place he’d of easily been able to spot the near smoldering, reddish orange mass in the far window on the fourth floor…

 

Spot the wide, dark eyes trained on the three men below, how the man crouched down, just barely peeking over the window sill, looking in fear at the strange man with the shimmering electric violet sparks snapping and sparking about his hands and up his arms…at the brief glimpse of brilliant gold, feline eyes that seemed to catch the light, nearly glowing.

 

He ducked down, shaking his head in fright

 

_Oh god…_

One of the monsters was looking for him now…it was working with the police. He didn’t know what the man with the cat eyes was, but it seemed stronger than the others. It’d found the mark to call the angel…he’d seen the detectives looking at the marks on the walls. No one else had found them.

 

The angel had assured him it was safe, that they would not be found…that he could mask the marks from the others…

 

_How did this thing find them?_

 

_If he could find that, what else could he find?_

_Would he be able to find him?_

_His sister?_

_Oh god…he wished they could move faster…_

_Tomorrow was the Harvest moon…when the final sacrifice had to be made…_

Tomorrow it would all end…the monsters would be gone,

 

The humans race would be safe…

 

One more day…

 

He just had to make it for one more day…

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

#  _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> __End Of Chapter Notes_
> 
> #  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_
> 
> Ci-dyn = Dog-Man
> 
> (FYI I was bored the other day and was just going through making random ones of these…I have a feeling I’ll be throwing a lot in…
> 
> This one makes me laugh because for some reason I just get a mental image of someone shape shifting into like a poodle…
> 
> It makes me giggle, so I figured I’d work it in…
> 
>  
> 
> I know the end just shifted perspectives randomly but I think it kinda works…


	4. A Glimpse of Light in the Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus takes the Detectives to the occult shop,

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

#  _ Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

_Okay, so this case started with people turning up with no visible cause of death covered in bizarre ‘angelic’ brands._

 

‘Normal’ wasn’t ever really gonna apply to this…

 

Still, going to an occult shop with a ridiculously pretty, almost certainly equally ridiculously dangerous club owner and his partner babbling incessantly about his favorite shows trying to help Alec ‘catch up’ with them…

_Yeah, he really didn’t see this one coming._

 

He really didn’t know what to expect from an ‘occult shop’, much less the person who ran it. Walking past the storefront he glanced over curiously, the window and top half of the front door had plywood boards covering them. He felt a wave of anger at whoever did this. Regardless of how worried they were about the killings, they had no right to take out their anger on some poor girls livelihood, just because it was a bit odd and they got the crazy idea some supernatural boogeyman was behind it.

 

Magnus was right about one thing- she was way too forgiving. Even if she didn’t want to file a report, after they got the murder cases dealt with he was still going to look into who was behind this. No way they should get away with it. Being ‘scared’ of something doesn’t excuse violence and destruction.

 

Magnus led them around the side of the building to an odd, purple metal door, reaching up, wrapping quickly.

 

Simon tilted his head

 

“I’ve never seen a purple fire exit”

 

Magnus chuckled, shrugging

 

“Clarissa is rather unique; she said this color has a better energy.”

 

Alec quirked his eyebrow, but said nothing,

 

_She ran an occult shop and was close friends with Magnus…unique was probably the nicest way to put it._

 

“So w-” Simon began but was cut off by the door opening

 

A cute, perky young woman opened the door, bounding out wrapping her arms around Magnus hugging him tight, standing on tiptoes pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. He chuckled, pressing a light kiss to her cheek in return.

 

“Hey Biscuit”

 

“Hi Mag’s, thanks so much for this.”

 

He shook his head, giving her a surprisingly soft, affectionate smile

 

“Anything for you sweetheart, you know that.”

_Huh…_

_Okay…not what he was expecting…_

 

She was somewhat short, in a light pink tank top with a smiley face and faded, denim Capri’s decorated with hand painted flowers and a sparkly silver anklet dotted with charms, the young woman was barefoot with a bright smile and a mess of brilliant red hair pulled into a messy bun.

 

She pulled back from Magnus, looking over at the two detectives giving a slight wave and a brilliant smile,

 

“Hi, sorry I’m such a mess, I have a few projects I’ve been working on for an art show next month, I kinda got sidetracked, but I am totally good with helping you guys with the case. I know this whole occult, supernatural, magic thing is kinda odd and confusing for a lot of people, especially serious, by the book detectives, but I promise, whatever this is, we’ll figure it out…

 

Oh! I’m Clary by the way.” She trailed off, bouncing lightly in place…

 

Alec blinked, looking from the bright, cheery, girl over to his partner, before glancing up at Magnus, giving him a worried look, seemingly asking if he saw it too.

 

Magnus’s eyebrows rose, he chuckled, giving a slight shrug,

 

“Sweetheart, this is Detective Alec Lightwood and his partner Detective Simon Lewis. I think you’ll get along quite well.”

 

“Hey.” Alec offered, still glancing between the two nervously,

 

Simon gave a bright smile, and a slightly geeky wave, before moving forward, taking her hand, shaking it quickly,

 

“Hi Clary, it’s great to meet you. Thanks so much for helping us we’d be totally lost without it. Alec’s knowledge of the occult and the supernatural is pretty much non-existent and mine is basically every fantasy show from the last decade or so…

 

Probably not the most accurate source.”

 

She tilted her head, giving a slight, curious smile, shrugging

 

“Actually sometimes they get surprisingly close…you might be more prepared than you think.”

 

She moved to the side holding the door open, gesturing into the shop

 

“Well, no sense hanging around out here…come on in guys, we have sigils to look up and a murderer to track down, no time to waste.”

 

Simon practically bounded in, nearly bouncing, seemingly trying to take in everything at once, Magnus and Alec followed at a more normal pace.

 

Alec raised his eyebrow, looking around…

_Hmm…_

_Once again, not what he was expecting_

 

When he heard ‘occult’ shop he’d been expecting dark, gothic, emo kind of things…lots of black…

 

_That was most definitely not this place…_

 

Everything was bright, cheery and welcoming. Crystals, statues, stones and various talismans littered every surface. He’d be willing to bet it was stunning with the windows clear, the light streaming in.

 

Over the faint sent of fresh paint he could smell something spicy, warm and pleasant.

_He could kind of see why Magnus liked the place so much._

 

Clary led them over to the counter with the register. It was piled high with an assortment of books, looking behind the counter there was actually an entire wall filled with shelves covered with a huge assortment of books some looking like they were bought yesterday, others looking as if they may fall apart if touched. There were even a few things that looked remarkably like scrolls of some kind.

 

She reached over, lightly patting the stack of books on the counter, shrugging.

 

“When Mag’s said what you’d found I figured I’d pull what I had on sigils…I mean, I’m sure there’s more there, but these are the most thorough…it’s a good place to start anyways.

 

So…why don’t we get right to it; what did you guys find?”

_Well, the girl seems a bit unusual…and really looked far too young to be into all this, but at least she was professional,_

 

Simon gave her a bright smile nodding quickly. He settled in next to her, pulling his phone out pulling up the photos he took of the symbols, pointing them out-

 

“Yeah see…we found these on the alley walls, we don’t know what they are b-”

 

“Enchantment runes.” She said, reaching up, resting her hand on the phone, bright green eyes sharply focused, finger tracing the symbol, she shook her head softly

 

Alec startled faintly, blinking

 

“You recognize them?”

 

She sighed, giving a slight nod, glancing at the detectives,

 

“There were six in all, right?”

 

Alec nodded slowly

 

She sighed, reaching under the counter pulling out a sketchbook placing it on the table, snagging a black pen out of a cup sitting on the edge of the register…

 

“Let me guess, two on either side one on the back wall and one somewhere near the entrance of the alley…something like this?” she swiftly sketched out the three walls, putting quick little hash marks indicating the symbols.

 

Simon tilted his head, eyes widening slightly,

 

“Yeah…h-how’d you know that?”

 

“The placing has meaning…”

 

She took the pen; connecting the marks… it created a six pointed star…

 

Simon groaned,

 

“Ah crap…I’m guessing that’s not a Star of David…right?”

 

She gave a surprised laugh, shaking her head

 

“Umm…no…It’s a hexagram…though they are similar at a glance, they have very different meanings. The hexagram is very powerful in spells. It’s the only way the spell would work. Enchantment runes, when placed in a hexagram are said to create a kind of field within them. When someone crosses over the barrier they would be under the sway of whoever created the markings.

 

Covens as well as individual practitioners use them as a way to combine and amplify their powers. The symbol itself is not inherently evil…but it does have a pretty well established place in dark rituals.

 

The six points symbolize the four elements, the sun and the moon…there’s a lot of power in th-”

 

Simon gasped, eyes wide,

 

“Wait…”

 

The other three startled, looking over at him,

 

“What is it? Do you have something?” Alec asked

 

Simon shook his head,

 

“I-I don’t know…maybe…” he paused, glancing over at Clary,

 

“Do you by any chance have a map of the city somewhere around here?”

 

She thought a second before nodding quickly,

 

“Yeah, in the back, let me go grab it.” she turned, quickly making her way across the shop, slipping through the door.

 

Magnus turned to him, tilting his head,

 

“What are you thinking darling?”

 

He shook his head,

 

“I’m not sure…it might be nothing…hopefully it’s nothing, really don’t think it’s the kinda answers Luke’s hoping for and it’s a long shot anyways, but…okay, so we couldn’t figure out why the killer led Decker three blocks away to a certain alley…

 

All of the killings are spread out all around the city. Around the **_edges_** of the city-”

 

“Found it!” Clary called, bounding back into the room, spreading it out on the counter, pushing the books to the side, glancing back up at Simon, tilting her head,

 

“So what-?”

 

Alec sighed, giving a faint shrug before looking over the map,

 

“This morning we found another body; there’s been six in all. We couldn’t figure out why the killer would lead the victim three blocks to a seemingly random alley. We have reason to believe the locations are chosen first, as it doesn’t seem too likely after murdering the victim they’d hang around to create the markings.”

 

She blinked,

 

“So, you’re thinking the locations might line up the same way as the enchantment runes?”

 

He shrugged, glancing back at the map.

 

The four leaned closer,

 

“Okay, the victim this morning was found…here…at 1098 Rocklin Way.” He paused glancing over at Clary, hesitantly reaching over for a marker,

 

“Can I?”

 

She nodded, waving him forward. Simon gave her a slight, grateful smile, before turning back to the map. He put a mark indicating the alleyway. Hand moving searching for the spot from yesterday.

 

“2443 Bay Parkway… before that 466 4th avenue. 9339 Ocean Parkway. 6556 Hoyt Street. And the first was at 7227 Marine Avenue…” he plotted them on the map

 

Clary leaned closer, picking up a bright red marker, connecting the marks, before moving back a bit…

 

“Uh…”

 

“Damnit…I was REALLY hoping I’d be wrong.” Simon sighed, shaking his head, looking up at the others.

 

Magnus shook his head

 

“Well…it does answer a few questions we had. We know why they chose the locations. And I get the feeling if the locations were chosen for a specific reason the same would go for the victims.” He glanced up at the others, raising his eyebrow,

 

“If it was just the location that mattered surely there had to be someone closer they could have taken. Decker was three blocks away and likely getting ready to leave…there had to have been easier targets.”

 

Alec nodded

 

“I think you’re right. All the victims were similar body types, similar dress, similar appearance. None of them had even been drinking, and all of them were more than capable of defending themselves. There had to be easier targets.

 

The victims definitely didn’t seem random.”

 

The collective group looked back at the map, the garish red hexagram nearly seeming to glow.

 

_Damnit…he knew Luke wanted them to come up with answers but somehow he doesn’t think this was going to really cut down on the public’s nerves._

 

_Yeah…this really wasn’t good…_

 

“Well…it’s some answers…doubt Luke will be happy with this, but there has to be a reasonable answer.” Simon offered, looking over the others,

 

Magnus and Alec nodded hesitantly,

 

Clary gasped, eyes widening,

 

“Oh…damnit…”

 

The three looked over in apprehension,

 

“What is it?” Alec finally asked with a resigned sigh,

 

She gave an apologetic look, shaking her head,

 

“You didn’t call me about enchantment runes…”

 

Magnus nodded glancing over at Simon who flipped through the photos on his phone, pulling up the Summoning sigil, holding it out for her to see. She leaned in, looking it over, tilting her head, squinting,

 

“Huh…I don’t recognize the language…it’s similar to a few that I know, but I’ve never seen it before. Magnus was right though; it’s definitely a summoning sigil; there’s a few things that are kinda universal. I would guess it’s very old…usually very old means very powerful.” She paused, glancing over the two detectives,

 

“You guys really need to be careful. These kinds of forces really shouldn’t be messed with. Whoever is using this is combining the hexagram with the summoning sigil…using it to amplify it.”

 

She tilted her head, glancing over at Magnus,

 

“Why would someone do that?”

 

He shrugged

 

“I don’t know…I actually have never seen this before…”

 

“Well, that’s concerning…” Clary muttered,

 

_Huh…talk about concerning…_

 

Alec glanced at the two,

 

“Why is that?”

 

Magnus and Clary seemed to freeze for a moment,

 

“Well; I’ve had a pretty interesting life, traveled quite a lot and have a great deal of interest in learning about different cultures and customs…especially the very unique, quirky, kind of out there things.

 

Coming across something I’ve never heard of really is quite unusual.” Magnus offered easily, giving a slight shrug,

 

_Hmm…that was mostly the truth, but Alec got the feeling there was more to it than that…_

_Still…he had told Magnus he wouldn’t ask…_

Alec sighed,

 

“Okay, so if it’s something neither of you have heard of it must be something pretty rare. Clary, do you think you can look into it more for us, see if you can find anything about this kind of thing…about what combining the two things would do?” he paused

 

“I have to be honest; I don’t believe in this stuff, but clearly whoever is behind this does. If we can figure out what they’re trying to do maybe we can figure out where they’ll strike next, and how to catch them.”

 

Clary nodded,

 

“Yes, of course I will; like I said, anything I can do.”

 

“Thank you; we really do appreciate the help.” He gave her a faint smile, reaching forward, clasping her hand,

 

She froze a moment, inhaling sharply, swallowing, eyes suddenly wide and bright, she shook her head faintly,

 

“Oh…” Clary squeezed his hand, lingering a moment, looking up, meeting his eyes, gaze wide and almost fearful,

 

“Are you-”

 

“Please be very careful detective. There’s a lot of danger around you…a lot of darkness.”

 

Alec shook his head, tugging his hand away, shrugging,

 

“Umm…yeah, uh…I do work as a detective, a lot of my job involves danger…I’m usually pretty careful.”

 

She tilted her head, looking him over slowly,

 

“Not like this…this case is different. Please just be careful?

 

A-actually…wait, just a sec,” she turned from him moving quickly across the shop,

 

Alec leaned a bit closer to Magnus,

 

“Umm, I-is she okay?” he asked, glancing over, before startling at the suddenly concerned look Magnus was giving him.

 

“Uh, are you okay?”

 

Magnus shook his head faintly,

 

“Clarissa is quite alright…but the girl does have a bit of a gift, she’s quite intuitive. If she has a sense or a feeling about something I take it very seriously. I do hope you will be careful darling...”

 

Alec huffed, giving him a slight smile,

 

“Magnus; I’m a detective…I know how to protect myself…”

 

“So did all the victims.” Simon said quietly,

 

Alec startled, looking up at his partner in surprise,

 

“Simon, don’t tell me you believe this?”

 

He sighed, shrugging,

 

“Dude; we’re currently in an occult shop looking up information on enchantment runes and Summoning sigils in connection to six bizarre murders who’s locations form a hexagram…

 

I’d say if the owner of an occult shop says she feels bad energy or whatever around you maybe it wouldn’t hurt to take a few precautions….”

 

Alec scoffed disbelievingly,

 

“What kind of ‘precautions’ can I take against ‘bad energy’?” he asked sarcastically, gesturing slightly,

 

“This for a start…” Clary interrupted, moving back towards them, carrying something held tightly in her hand,

 

She stopped right in front of Alec, opening her hand, revealing a rather odd necklace. It was clean and understated looking on a simple black leather chord, a smooth black stone with an unusual smattering of symbols inlayed in a pear green stone that caught and nearly shimmered in the light. She held it out to him.

 

Alec shook his head faintly,

 

“Umm…I’m not really a jewelry person…” he paused, glancing up

 

“No offense Magnus…” the man in question shrugged, looking over the stone with interest, before shifting his gaze up to Alec,

 

“None taken, but I do wish you would wear it. The symbols are a combination of Sumatran and Gaelic protection symbols, they are thought to be quite powerful…besides it’s practically made for you, it even matches your beautiful eyes.”

 

Alec blushed, shaking his head, glancing back at Clary,

 

“That’s very nice of you, but honestly; I don’t believe in this kinda thing…”

 

She shook her head,

 

“You don’t have to believe in Magic for it to work…

 

Just humor me… What can it possibly hurt?” she gave him a hopeful, near pleading look. Glancing over, catching Magnus and Simon’s concerned looks,

 

He gave a faint huff of a sigh,

 

“Why do I get the feeling you guys won’t let up until I agree?”

 

Magnus smirked, raising his eyebrow,

 

“Because as I said earlier, you are as clever as you are gorgeous.”

 

He shook his head, before glancing over at Clary, raising his eyebrow,

 

“I’ll wear the necklace…you see if you can find why someone would be combining a hexagram with a summoning sigil?”

 

She grinned brightly, giving a sharp determined nod,

 

“Deal.”

 

_Seriously…how is this his life?_

Alec sighed once more resigned, extending his hand…

 

Clary beamed, moving forward quickly, dropping it into his hand. He lifted it, slipping it over his head, tucking it into his shirt, before looking back at the other three.

 

“There, happy?”

 

Magnus, Simon and Clary nodded,

 

Alec nodded back,

 

“Okay great…so I have my Magic protection necklace, Clary is going to continue to look into the symbols, why don’t we search the other scenes for enchantment runes and the summoning sigil…and I think that is the strangest sentence I’ve ever said…” he finished, shaking his head.

  
Simon flashed him a quick smile,

 

“Not even close to mine…”

 

Alec groaned,

 

_Magic protection necklaces, occult shops, enchantment runes, summoning sigils and Hexagrams…_

 

_Next to this ‘Angelic Protection Allergy’ was sounding more ordinary by the minute._

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#  _ Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon _

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_Oh my god, Magnus was SO freaking cool!_

 

Yes, that sounded like an overexcited, screeching fanboy but it was totally warranted.

 

It was so hard pretending not to see the magic, not to just gawk like an idiot or say ‘ooh, pretty!’

 

He really should be fairly used to this; I mean he’s been able to see Supernaturals and Magic and all that since he was eleven. That’s over fifteen years he’s been able to hide his reactions to the things he’d see, stay calm and seem totally clueless to all the things that are supposed to be invisible to humans.

 

Hiding his reactions from normal humans, from Supernaturals, from his parents…

 

_He has a LOT of practice okay?_

_**But geez…** _

__

Magnus is just on a whole different level. He’s been around warlocks before, and you can usually see a bit of their power, but Magnus’s just blew all of them out of the water. It wasn’t just a bit of a flicker; it was like the man radiated power. He was certain even normal humans had to be able to feel it at least to an extent, even if they didn’t know what the hell it was they had to feel at least a bit of ‘something’ from this dude.

 

The way his magic reacted, changed flickered and shimmered was unlike anything Simon had ever seen. Magnus's magic was almost like a living thing, truly like an extension of himself. It ebbed and flowed: at times almost unnoticeable to the eye, though you could still feel it. Other times it'd spike up, flickering like a brilliant violet flame, licking at the air. Then there was how it looked when he was purposely wielding it, like when he was baiting Alec...

 

_Oh man!_

It would crackle and spark like lightning, the energy absolutely radiating from him. His brilliant gold feline eyes would shimmer, flash and flicker, at times he swears they were actually glowing.

_It was nearly mesmerizing…_

 

He'd never seen anything like it. He couldn't imagine what he'd look like truly angry, ready to fight...

 

_Woah, that was a scary thought_

Not long after they got to the most recent Scene was the first time he’d actually truly seen Magnus in action; it’d taken near everything he had not to just stare dumbfounded. He’d moved a bit away from Alec and Simon, making a few subtle, graceful gestures, magic flickering up, trailing up his arms, his eyes flickered, slit pupils dilating rapidly. Magnus tilted his head, the movement seeming unusual, not quite human, gaze roaming the alley, seemingly seeing through everything, almost appearing to be in a trance.

 

Simon tried to keep Alec’s attention as long as he could, though all he wanted to do is just watch the warlock work, he’d never seen anything even remotely like what he was doing…it was just absolutely astounding. Still, they needed the case solved and Magnus had already found something everyone else had missed, Simon really wanted to give him a chance to find anything and everything he possibly could.

 

He’d kept Alec’s focus for as long as he could but there were only so many things to examine in the fairly small, narrow alley. After the first hour he was running out of ideas…he hated interrupting Magnus’s focus, but when he’d seen him kneel down, he couldn’t help being curious. Just as they’d reached his side he saw the flicker of magic as he blew the dust, revealing something on the ground.

_A Summoning Sigil…_

_Yeah, ‘not good’ was about the understatement of the century._

 

He was SO glad they had Magnus’s help on this; he wouldn’t even know where to begin to deal with somebody summoning anything. For once he wasn’t lying, the only things he knew about dealing with summoning was what he saw on TV shows.

 

He really didn’t know what they’d do without Magnus and Clary’s help. And really meeting her was almost as cool as meeting Magnus!

 

He’d never heard of a warlock who actually ran an occult shop; usually they were quite guarded about their Magic and expected others to do the same. Simon would wager her shop probably got her quite a bit of flack from other warlocks, though he could definitely see why Magnus liked her so much. She was so kind, bright and bubbly. Her shop was beautiful; stepping into it felt like home, totally welcoming and peaceful.

 

He was a bit worried about her reaction to Alec…as well as Magnus’s comment about her being quite ‘intuitive’. Simon had heard rumors that there were some warlocks that where somewhat clairvoyant, though he’d thought it was just that; rumors. Still her reaction to Alec, as well as Magnus reaction to Alec made him wonder.

 

If she was clairvoyant he’d really have to be on guard…which really sucked, she seemed awesome and he really wanted nothing more than to go back to the shop and talk to her more.

 

Kevin was the only one who knew what he really was, the only person who really knew what all he could see. He was awesome, absolutely amazing…the best friend anyone could ever hope for. They’d been best friends since they were seven years old, he’d be totally lost without him.

 

Hell, if it weren’t for him he’d of probably ended up thinking he was crazy when he started to see Supernaturals…or worse yet asking his parents about it…

_Yeah…that would have been REALLY bad…_

Still he would love to be able to talk to a warlock about magic, symbols, spells and all of that- once again, he wasn’t lying when he said he was a nerd. He found all that stuff fascinating, but most warlocks didn’t discuss that kind of thing with anyone but other warlocks.

 

Clearly Clary wasn’t ‘Most Warlocks’. Probably one of the reasons Magnus liked her so much.

 

They’d left the shop hours ago, heading back to the other crime scenes. So far they’d been to three more. At every one of them they’d found the enchantment runes as well as the Summoning sigil. Magnus had pointed out a few other marks; nothing major some scuffs in the dirt, a few marks that looked like maybe someone had sat or kneeled down.

 

There was one thing that seemed really odd. At the second scene, behind a stack of plywood scraps he found a broken charm from a key chain. It looked like a silver wing.

 

That was one of the few new things they found, other than the marks it was really all the same at the other scenes. Still it was progress. He was really thinking this case might finally turn in their favor…

 

Having Magnus on the case really was amazing…he really couldn’t imagine anything better tha-

 

“Hello detective Lewis.”

 

Simon startled, whirling around, the other man taking a step back, holding his hands up a bit.

 

“Sorry, I did not mean to startle you.” Raphael offered with a faint, apologetic smile.

 

_Okay…maybe he could imagine something better…_

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the rather abrupt ending but I really want Raphael’s perspective…and I know there was like NO progression, but I had to have Simon Fanboying a bit
> 
>  
> 
> Anyways…
> 
>  
> 
> _So…I kind of have this little thing in my head as to why Magnus is seemingly so much more powerful than most other warlocks…_
> 
> Maybe there are different ways a warlock can come to be,
> 
>  
> 
> It’s parents could both be warlocks (Which…duh)
> 
>  
> 
> OR
> 
>  
> 
> One of its parents is a anywhere from a mid level to a greater demon (the other parent could either be human or some type of supernatural.)
> 
>  
> 
> -I figure all Warlocks come from a demon and something else at some point in their bloodline, but the closer to the demon ancestor the more powerful they are-
> 
>  
> 
> I’m thinking the first group is what you get most often, as Calon tywyll has been blocked from the human world for over a millennia, and most midlevel+ demons can’t pass through.
> 
>  
> 
> (I have a whole complicated background ‘thing’ thought up as to how Magnus ended up in the human world and all of that but we’re probably not going to get all that right away…have to save SOMETHING for the second season)
> 
>  
> 
> I’m also thinking of maybe having his mom be another type of supernatural- either a warlock or some type of Fae and pretty powerful in her own right- and honestly I don’t know if in the show’s history she was duped into not knowing the father of her baby was a demon or if there was some *other* tragic, uncomfortable thing in play but I’m not doing anything like that.
> 
> She knew what she was doing; she knew who/what he was…
> 
>  
> 
>  And I’ll say right now, I’m not gonna have the whole tragic back story they have in the show for him because…seriously, I don’t want to write about someone killing themselves because they couldn’t stand what their kid was…
> 
>  
> 
> **_That’s just messed up on SO many levels…_ **
> 
> ****
> 
> So we’re gonna have a very different back story…apologies to anyone who’d actually miss that, but…uh…my universe, my rules
> 
>  
> 
> Anyways I think my back story will work quite well, be interesting and, you know, unlike canon not totally soul crushing…
> 
>  
> 
> Okay, enough of my random rambling…
> 
> _What did you think of the ACTUAL story?_


	5. Even Vampires Get Nervous Sometimes…

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **_💜💜Chapter Complete!!💜💜_ **
> 
> _Raphael Joins the guys to help on the case…_
> 
> _And flirt with Simon_

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#  _ Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael _

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_God, Finally!_

****

He thought the sun was never going to set…which is ironic as it’s actually winter and the sun sets by about five…

 

Still, he was hard pressed to remember a day that seemed to take longer. He’d tried to make himself sleep in a bit, but just couldn’t seem to. He was wide awake by noon. By this point he was going stir crazy in the apartment, trying to busy himself when it was quite clear sleep simply wasn’t going to be an option, all the while impatiently watching the sun creep ever so slowly across the sky.

 

The view really was spectacular; he could see nearly the entire city skyline out of the large picture windows…

 

And thanks to an extremely complicated, flashy, nearly unnervingly powerful, he’s-still-not-entirely-sure-how-it-works spell by a certain high warlock/best friend/pain in the ass, he can actually see it without, you know, bursting into flames.

 

Magnus in fact put some kind of enchantment over the entire apartment building, blocking all the UV light, making it safe for the entire Brooklyn Vampire clan to roam about the building at anytime of the day.

 

_He’s not gonna lie; there are definite advantages to having the High Warlock Of Brooklyn as a best friend._

They’d bought the entire apartment high rise complex about five years ago, as a kind of congratulations for having their probation lifted, finally getting out of the shadow of Camille’s legacy after her not so untimely second death. She’d went totally power mad, completely disregarding the accords. Had in fact begun to hunt humans, turning people against their will as well as encouraging the others in the Clan to do the same.

 

Raphael had been totally in the dark to this, only finding out towards the very end. He and Camille had never really been close. That was never going to happen after the disaster that was her and Magnus’s attempt at a relationship. Raphael had always thought she was more interested in Magnus’s power than in him. She’d resented how close they were, was insanely jealous, convinced there was something romantic going on between them. She flat out didn’t believe the ace thing, had on more than one occasion called him a liar about it, thought he was just being picky or over dramatic.

 

When they finally broke up Raphael had actually thrown an honest to god party. Which- as he’s generally completely against loud music, crowds, and frivolity in general- tells you exactly how happy he was.

 

Mags kept asking if he was sure he didn’t have a fever, repeatedly trying to check his forehead…

 

_(To be fair by that time he was **really** drunk)_

 He really would have preferred not to be in her clan, but Brooklyn was his home, had been since he and Magnus had moved here in the forties, and, while he did have Magnus as his family and nothing could replace that, vampires do much better in a clan, when they have protection and support from other’s like them.

 

At first Camille tried to keep her transgressions secret, not only from Raphael but from most of the rest of the clan, save for a few like minded individuals. Eventually she became greedy, entitled and impatient. She grew angry having to hide, coming to believe that Vampires were superior to humans, better evolved…that they were _entitled_ to be above humans, to prey on them.

 

That was absolutely unacceptable for any supernatural.

 

Her actions grew more reckless and bold and were eventually discovered. They had very nearly lead to the entire clan being sanctioned, deemed too dangerous for the human world, too much of a threat to the survival of the other Supernaturals. The only thing that stopped that was his stepping in, giving his word to fix it.

 

That, along with Magnus’s backing (and his oh-so-subtle implications that a pissed off High Warlock was a hell of a lot more dangerous than a rouge Vampire clan) convinced the powers that be to relent, allow the clan to continue, minus Camille and a few of her very devoted followers, under the proviso that they would be evaluated every five years, to ensure that the clan was no longer a threat to the humans, or to the supernatural’s continued existence, until they were deemed truly reformed.

 

It’d taken a lot of work and a lot of very unpleasant decisions and very difficult calls on his part. There were quite a bit more sharing Camille’s views than he’d originally thought. There were many times he had to be ruthless. He knew by now he had a pretty dark, bordering on infamous, reputation thanks in large part to that. Adding to it were a few instances of other clans trying to push them out, push HIM out or overtake their territory (that wasn’t the business of the accords or those in charge of them- as a general rule, the different factions were left to their own discretion, so long as whatever they were doing was not detrimental to the other factions or the humans.)

 

Still they made it through all of it. Five years ago they’d had their last evaluation, the powers that be lifting the proviso. Magnus did his fancy, flashy footwork and, well…here he is, anxiously waiting to watch the sunset totally not in pain or on fire.

 

That first month he thinks the entire clan just sat at their windows, watching the sun rise and slip across the sky. It really was amazing…

 

Being able to see the sun, to actually get to see the city in the daytime, it really was the most incredible gift any of them could’ve ever hoped for. Not having to live every moment of their lives in darkness, it was something most Vampires only dream of.

 

Only now all he wanted was the darkness. He wanted the sun to set so he could join Mags on the case…

 

So he could see Simon once more.

 

_And, you know help with the whole ‘demon, summoning, bizarre deaths, humans panicking’ thing_

Magnus had texted him when he’d found the summoning sigil, keeping him up with the investigation. Told him about them going to Clary’s shop, about her warning to Alec, and his relief of her giving the detective a protection charm…which was very nice of her…

 

Though he kinda wished she’d of given one to Simon too. Magnus had assured him that Clary didn’t say anything about seeing anything negative around the younger detective, but still…

 

He really wanted to be there with them. To be sure that the younger detective was safe as well.

 

And yes, it was rather odd, feeling that protective of someone he’d only met for an hour, but he couldn’t seem to shake it. There was something about the guy that was just so damn endearing.

 

 He was absolutely adorable, with the big, bright golden brown eyes and the sweetest smile Raphael had ever seen. There was so much compassion in those bright eyes, so much optimism. He was so energetic and animated.

 

The way he’d mediated between Magnus and Alec was quite impressive, it showed a lot of intelligence, and a LOT of patience (Raphael can attest to how difficult it is to get Magnus to let up on something he wants…the man’s near relentless.)

 

Everything he saw about Simon just made him want to learn more.

 

It was odd…

 

_He’s a vampire, he shouldn’t have this weird, breathless, near giddy feeling…not at just getting a chance to talk to someone he’d just barely met._

Usually he had more control of himself- none of that blinded by desire thing he so often saw- one of the benefits of being Asexual. He didn’t get hung up on someone’s physical traits or sex-appeal to the point of missing near everything else about them (case in point, Magnus and Camille), he saw people for who they were…

 

Only, with this Simon ‘who they were’ was kind of unbelievably charming and totally engaging.

 

Raphael had been looking forward to seeing the younger detective all day…he actually felt nervous. He’d changed outfits six times today (a point he would tell absolutely no one, not even Magnus), partly just as a way to kill time and partly because he wanted to look just right.

 

He didn’t want to look overly dressed, but he didn’t usually really DO casual wear- he had exactly two pair of jeans and like four black designer tee-shirts, but that was the extent of his ‘casual’ wear. He’d finally just figured to hell with it and ended up going with his favorite black designer suit with a black waist coat and a deep red shirt…

 

It was about as far from casual as you could get, but he loved it and always felt just a bit more confident in it…

 

He had a feeling that might come in handy today…

 

Glancing out the window as the last rays of sun dipped below the horizon he took a deep breath (he didn’t actually need to, but it still helped to calm him). Checking his reflection once more he gives a faint nod, trying to fight off a nearly unnervingly hopeful smile, he turned, making his way out the door…

_Well, here goes nothing._

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#  _ Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael _

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_Okay…he’s good…he’s the leader of the Brooklyn Vampire Clan, he’s confident and powerful and can absolutely do this…_

**_He can._ **

****

_Oh for heaven’s sakes he’s actually giving himself a pep-talk…_

_Clearly something’s gone awry here_

_He doesn’t do ‘pep’_

Taking one last-totally unneeded- deep breath he moved forward, putting on one of his most charming smiles,

 

 “Hello detective Lewis.”

 

Simon startled, whirling around to face him, eyes wide and surprised

 

_Ah crap- Vampire stealth_

He put his hands up placatingly, giving an apologetic smile,

 

“Sorry, I did not mean to startle you.”

 

He shook his head, giving a faint shrug and that adorable smile, Raphael could hear his heartbeat speed up a few tics, his breathing becoming a bit shallow.

 

_O-okay…that’s a good sign…_

_Calm down…don’t get carried away_

“Oh, uh…I-it’s okay; totally, think I was zoning out a bit anyways.” He paused, bouncing lightly on his heels, fidgeting seemingly unsure what to do with his hands, starting to put them in his pockets before stopping, going to cross his arms once again hesitating, shrugging once more, eyes flickering quickly over Raphael.

 

“Wow, you lo-” Simon trailed off, cheeks flushing brightly, eyes widening, before glancing away, scratching nervously at his neck,

 

_God, how could anyone be that adorable?_

_Also the suit was most definitely the right decision…_

“Sorry…I’m glad to see you…i-umm-I mean...Thanks for coming, we really do appreciate you guys helping, we’d be totally out of our element on this…well, I mean I guess I have it better than Alec since I at least knew what a summoning sigil was and stuff- though that’s not like from real knowledge of the occult, just from watching too many scifi/fantasy shows…

 

Apparently there is a benefit to being a nerd…

 

_Umm…_

A-anyways, I’m glad you’re working with us…” he trailed off, looking sheepishly at Raphael.

 

He smiled softly, giving the young detective a friendly nod,

 

“I am glad to see you as well Simon. This is the first case I have ever worked on; I believe it would be quite beneficial getting the opportunity to work with an expert.”

 

Simons eyes widened, he blushed even brighter, shaking his head slightly, once again seeming unsure what to do with his hands.

 

_It was absolutely adorable_

 

“Oh umm…I-I wouldn’t say expert…at least not about me- Alec totally- but I think I’m still too new to it to say I’m an ‘expert’-though it’s really cool that you did. I’ve only been a detective for a little over a year and a half, which is how long I’ve been partnered with Alec but before that I was a patrol officer at BPD for a year and three more before that over at the 12th, so it’s not like I’m new to any of this…and I’ve gotten way better since I actually got the promotion to detective and was lucky enough to get partnered with Alec…

 

And I think I’ve kinda just told you most of my entire life story so I’m gonna try to stop talking…” he trailed off, rolling his eyes at himself, firmly clamping his mouth shut.

 

Raphael chuckled, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“I think I may have to disagree with you- I do believe five years in a field is more than enough to qualify you as an expert…though I have no doubt there are law enforcement officers who have been in the field for decades and haven’t a clue what the hell they’re actually supposed to be doing, in no way would that apply to you…or I’m sure anyone in Garroway’s precinct.

 

 Luke wouldn’t put up with that…plus he told Magnus you and Alec are his best, he doesn’t throw that around lightly.

 

As if that all wasn’t enough  you where actually able to draw Magnus’s attention away from Alec, without him getting ruffled and even get him to focus on the case…

 

Clearly if you can do that you should actually be a negotiator- Magnus is stubborn as hell and very easily distracted- I’ve known him nearly my entire life and even I have trouble keeping his focus around shiny objects…or in this case ‘a gorgeous detective with a sexy voice’.” Raphael mimicked, complete with air quotes, rolling his eyes,

 

Simon laughed brightly, shaking his head, bouncing slightly,

 

“Oh man, I don’t know how I did that! I had no idea how to keep them apart. I was SO glad you showed up when you did- I told Kevin this morning I was like two minutes away from knocking on the window to the observation room and asking one of the officers in there to get me a spray bottle!”

 

Raphael gave a sharp surprised laugh, shaking his head,

 

 “I must admit, having a spray bottle handy to keep Magnus in line may not be a bad idea…I may have to start doing that.”

 

Simon smiled, shrugging

 

“Well thankfully It never came to that…you may get away with it, me probably not so much. You know, for a kinda crazy pretty guy with a ton of jewelry he is seriously intimidating.”

 

Raphael chuckled, giving a faint smirk,

 

“Yeah, he does have a certain flare, not going to lie, it has its benefits.”

 

Simon nodded

 

“I can see that, I’m just glad he’s on our side. He’s really been a lot of help. We’ve found the same markings so far at all the scenes they’re-”

 

“Enchantment runes.” Raphael echoed, Simon glancing over in surprise

 

He quirked his eyebrow, before shrugging,

 

“Mag’s texted me, keeping me in the loop, this way I didn’t have to play catch up. I really felt bad I couldn’t join you guys earlier, but I just had-”

 

“Some meetings that you couldn’t get out of?” Simon picked up, smirking right back at him

 

 “Yeah…Magnus told you that huh?”

 

“Or I could have just cleverly deduced it…you know, since I’m an ‘expert investigator’ and everything.” He grinned impishly,

 

_Oh wow…that was adorable_

Raphael chuckled, slipping a bit closer, quirking his eyebrow, again waiting,

 

Simon blushed, giving a slight nod,

 

“Okay yeah…Magnus told me. So since he’s been keeping you in the loop I guess we can just jump right into the investigation right?”

 

Raphael nodded

 

Simon nodded back, slipping closer, beginning to move towards the left wall of the alley, Raphael falling into step next to him.

 

“Kay, so; at all the scenes Magnus found these really weird markings, enchantment runes Clary said…”

 

_Raphael leaned a bit closer trying to focus on his words, on the case, and not on the incredibly adorable detective with the unbelievably sweet smile and the big bright eyes…_

_It was definitely going to be a challenge_

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#  _ Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec _

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“…zzy said she can’t tell if the brands were made with an actual hot iron or some kind of chemical as there were signs of each and…

 

You are not listening to a word I’m saying…” Alec trails off, folding his arms, looking pointedly at Magnus

 

The other man startles faintly, looking back at him,

 

“Hmm…I-yes I am.”

 

Alec quirked his eyebrow,

 

“Then what did I say?”

 

Magnus smirked,

 

“That Izzy cannot tell how the brands were created…I told you, I _was_ paying attention, why did you think I wasn’t?”

 

Alec shrugged

 

“Well, generally talk of murder victims being branded in some unknown way doesn’t result in someone smiling…”

 

Magnus gave a surprised laugh,

 

“Yes, I suppose it is somewhat inappropriate, sorry darling. I guess I was rather distracted.”

 

Alec shrugged, giving a slight smile, tilting his head,

 

“It’s fine…out of curiosity what were you thinking about?”

 

Magnus smiled eagerly, eyes bright and surprisingly warm, nodding over towards the back part of the alley.

 

_Oh wow…that was dazzling_

 Alec turned to see what could possibly cause that smile. Magnus slipped closer, resting his hand on Alec’s arm, leaning a bit closer,

 

“I do believe it’s going quite well…” he whispered in a conspiratorial tone, squeezing his arm slightly.

 

Alec took a deep breath, trying to fight down the little giddy feeling, unconsciously leaning in closer,

 

“W-what?” he stammered

 

Magnus smiled brighter, raising his eyebrow leaning even closer, voice going soft, taking on an excited lilt,

 

_“Raph and Simon.”_

“Oh! Umm, yeah, they seem to be getting along well.”

 

Magnus squeezed his arm again, looking up catching his eyes. Alec tired to ignore the sudden lightheaded, breathless feeling he got…

 

_God, he was just breathtaking…_

I mean, he already knew that, it was kinda impossible to miss, but this was just a totally different side. His eyes looked soft and bright and surprisingly warm, it was something that he honestly never would have thought he’d see in Magnus.

 

Magnus gave a soft bit of a contented, sigh; Alec tried not to think about how much he wanted to hear that sound again.

 

“I am glad…I know Raphael was quite taken with the dear. He seems like such a kind sweet boy…” He paused, glancing over at Alec,

 

“I know you have been partnered with him for a while, can you tell me a bit about him?”

 

Alec blinked, shrugging,

 

“Umm…well, I don’t really know what I can tell you that Simon hasn’t already. He kinda tends to do enough talking for the both of us-”

 

Magnus chuckled, nodding

 

“That seems about accurate. The darling really does appear quite loquacious, but Raphael needs that…he is usually rather guarded, in most everything; having someone so open and vivacious around may help him come out of his shell a bit, lighten up some.

 

Did he mention Raphael after we left?”

 

Alec thought, nodding

 

“Yeah, a couple times I think.”

 

Magnus gave a beaming smile, eyes practically sparkling,

 

“Oh that is wonderful! Raphael will be thrilled; I know the darling was nervous about seeing Simon again.” he slipped even closer, leaning in, a devastatingly mischievous smile on his lips that kinda made Alec’s heart race,

 

“He’s even wearing his favorite suit…he only wears it when he needs a bit of a confidence boost, to give him a little extra courage.”

 

Alec swallowed a few times, trying to get his voice to work, before something occurs to him, he tilts his head,

 

“Uh, s-so why would Raphael need courage around Simon? I mean, yeah I understand if you’re interested in someone being a bit self conscious, but I get the feeling Raphael kinda has the flirting thing down cold.

 

I know I just met him but he kinda has the feel of someone who could pretty much talk anyone into about anything.

 

I really can’t imagine someone like that being nervous about **_Simon_**.” He paused, glancing over at Magnus, quirking his eyebrow

 

“Actually if anything I should probably be quizzing _you_ as to why someone like that would be after my partner.”

 

Magnus chuckled, shaking his head slightly,

 

“In truth you are not entirely wrong; Raphael is quite magnetic. When he wants to be he’s actually a better flirt than I am. There are very few people that can turn him down for one reason or another…

 

But that’s all just the surface; it’s a show, a means to an end…he generally sees flirting as a tool, or at times a weapon. It’s very rare he genuinely takes an interest in someone. The boy is quite guarded and rather hesitant to let others in.” he shrugged, getting a kind of far off look

 

“He has not had a very happy life, has struggled with getting people to accept him…with accepting himself.

 

I have done everything I could to help him…and I do know he would love to find someone; but it’s different for him, more complicated. He’s never had an issue finding someone attracted to him…

 

Hell, that’s half the problem.”

 

Alec tilted his head, genuinely curious but almost feeling like he’s over stepping.

 

“Umm…why would that be a problem?”

 

Magnus sighed,

 

“Raphael is Asexual; he’s not really ‘into’ sex, doesn’t really feel sexual attraction. If someone’s dating him a sexual relationship is **_not_** a guarantee…there are a lot of people that simply could not accept that. People who think he’s lying about it, or playing hard to get, or whatever else.

 

It’s difficult enough accepting that you are gay, bi or whatever else, and there’s still quite a bit of push back and drama just about that. But there are a lot of people who flat out don’t believe someone can genuinely not being interested in sex.

 

Raphael is romantically and aesthetically attracted to men. If he wants a relationship, it will be with a man, so he kind of gets the drama and hatred of homophobia along with the added hardship of most people not even knowing what the hell his actual sexuality even is…

 

Including those he may actually want to date…” He trailed off, shrugging,

 

Alec blinked, giving a slight nod,

 

“Yeah…that would definitely be complicated…

 

So, you really think he’s interested in Simon?” he asked, glancing back over at the other two men,

 

Magnus nodded, giving a slight smile,

 

“I have known him for nearly his entire life, and I have never seen him take to someone so quickly. I know he’s interested…I just hope Simon is as accepting and kind as he seems to be.

 

I know he would cover it well, but I do believe it’d break his heart if the boy can’t accept who he is.”

 

Alec shook his head,

 

“I really don’t think that’ll be an issue; Simon is the most compassionate, accepting person I have ever met. I can’t say what he’ll think of this ‘ace’ thing, but I couldn’t imagine him flat out rejecting someone because of it.”

 

Magnus gave him a slight, hopeful smile,

 

“That is what I thought as well…I do hope he will be okay with it, that they can make a go of it. I so want to see the dear happy…he more than deserves it after everything he’s been through.”

 

Alec wanted to ask, but he knew that would most definitely be overstepping, he settled for a faint nod, returning Magnus’s smile

 

“I hope they can too.”

 

Magnus squeezed his arm again, glancing over, meeting his eyes once more. Alec was struck breathless by the warmth in his eyes.

 

_Oh wow…_

_Okay that flickering flashing ‘thing’ in his eyes that caused that giddy, addicting adrenaline rush type feeling was really appealing, but this?_

 

_T-this was new…_

The alarms were still there today…Magnus still felt like the most dangerous person he’d ever encountered.

 

The flirting was still there- though different _(Magnus hadn’t been lying…he was WAY better at it)_

 

His apology this morning was new, totally unexpected, and seemed completely sincere.

 

The way he was with Clary, and the concern he showed about her warning was new, and very confusing

 

And now this…

 

The warmth in his eyes, the compassion, mixed with a touch of a far off sadness…

 

_Clearly the man was far deeper than he’d originally thought…_

_And FAR more complicated…_

Alec was beginning to wonder just how many contradictory sides this man could possibly have.

 

_And if he’d be lucky enough to get to see them all._

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#  _ Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael _

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“-Xander’s over on 38th because the other night was 70’s themed. Luke was having a couple of the uniforms head over and see if we can check out their security tapes, maybe we’ll be able to see if the victim left with anyone…at least it’s a place to start.”

 

Raphael nodded consideringly,

 

“That’s a good idea, is there an-” he’s cut off by Simon’s phone ringing.

 

“Just a sec…sorry…” Simon said apologetically, fishing it out,

 

Raphael waved him off, giving a slight smile,

 

“No problem.”

 

“Hopefully it’s abou…oh…” he trailed off, glancing at the info, giving a slight smile, as he lifted it to his ear,

 

Raphael turned away, looking around trying to appear busy and not like he was listening in…

 

“Hey Kev, what’s up?”

 

“Uhh…So…I kinda had a tiny bit of a situation…”

 

Simon sighed,

 

“What kind of situation?”

 

“Umm…I may have kinda, sorta…burnt an entire pan of sugar and butter and it’s now, like fused to the pan and I can’t get it out…I tried everything but it’s not budging…I mean it might have been easier but I got distracted when the smoke alarm went off and then I had to run and turn it off and then go and tell the neighbors that it was okay the building wasn’t actually on fire, the smoke was just from me trying to make Almond Roca…” Simon gave a faintly exasperated laugh, rolling his eyes affectionately.

 

“Oh my god…dude, just throw the entire pan out, I’m not gonna try to figure out how to get burnt candy out of it. Why were you even trying to make almond Roca! You have the flu, you are supposed to be relaxing and taking it easy! Besides we still have, like two boxes of cookies from Christmas your mom sent, not to mention the package of candy from your aunt…”

 

“I know but I wanted to save those! And she only makes the candy once a year and I had a real sweet tooth and there’s only a little bit of it left and I’ve seen her make it a lot of times, it didn’t seem too hard…I didn’t know you had to stir it like-constantly!

 

I figured if I could make it myself then I don’t have to wait for her to send me more…”

 

Simon chuckled again,

 

“No, I know you wanted to save them, but it’s better than burning down the kitchen…

 

j-just open the windows let the place air out…I’ll just pick us up dinner on the way home, okay?” He shook his head, smiling warmly,

 

The guy on the other end of the phone gave a faintly dejected sigh

 

“Okay…maybe don’t get anything too heavy though, the smell’s kinda really strong and I don’t know if it’s going to be totally gone by then, and I am feeling better but not totally better…I don’t want to overdo it.”

 

“Sure, I’ll stop by the deli on 4th, they have that really great chicken soup that you like so much, and they have that chocolate lava cake that you like…that should help with the sweet tooth.”

 

“Aww…Thanks so much Si…you really are the best. Don’t know what I’d do without you.”

 

“Right back at you Kev…See you tonight.”

 

See you Si.” The line disconnected

 

Raphael stayed staring at the wall, trying to seem like he hadn’t been paying attention…

 

Trying to mask his disappointment…

 

_God, of course he has someone already! He should have known…How did it not even occur to him he might not be single? He was s-_

He nearly startled when Simon lightly rested his hand on his shoulder, getting his attention, giving him a faintly apologetic smile,

 

“Hey, sorry about that man…Kevin’s home sick with the flu and he’s kinda going stir crazy.”

 

Raphael turned back to him, giving a slight shrug,

 

“It is quite alright. How long have you two been together?” he asked curiously,

 

“Oh, we’ve known each other forever…he’s been my best friend since we were seven years old….don’t know what I’d do without him.” he smiled brightly

 

Raphael nodded, giving a convincing smile,

 

“That’s really great. An excellent friendship really does seem to be the best way to start a romance.”

 

“Yeah, that’s what Kev…wait…” Simon tilted his head, before nearly startling,

 

“Oh! No! We’re not, he’s not… _We’re not **together** , together!_ I’m not in love with him…I mean, I **_do_** love him, but in a brother, best friend, platonic, probably-only-reason-I-actually-made-it-through-high-school-with-my-sanity-intact kinda way…

 

I really don’t know where I’d be without him, but we’re not like romantically interested in each other, like at all…Neither of us has ever been interested in anything more than friendship with the other.

 

Which is kinda odd cause objectively he’s really cute and since he’s Demi crushing on a friend is kinda almost standard, and we really are great together, and we live together and really it’d probably be so much easier if we could just fall for each other…but…I don’t know…it’s just not like that with us. It’s kinda confusing to explain I guess…” he trailed off, shrugging

 

Raphael smiled- a real smile- glancing over to the other side of the alley where Magnus and Alec were, giving a faint nod,

 

“No, I get it…He’s your Magnus.”

 

Simon brightened, nodding quickly

 

“Exactly! Only, you know…not so…Magnus-y…”

 

Raphael chuckled, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Yeah, sometimes I could do with a bit less of the ‘Magnus-ing’ myself, but I really don’t know where I’d be without him…

 

Actually, that’s a lie, I do. He is the only reason I am still standing here today. He’s insane, and ridiculous, childish, temperamental, loud- _FAR too loud_ -, far too boisterous and about a million other things that drive me absolutely crazy…

 

But at the end of the day, he is always there for me…anytime I need him, without question, without hesitation. He is always on my side, always has my back. It is the one constant that I have had nearly my entire life.

 

He is a lot of work- a **_LOT_** of work- but I wouldn’t give him up for anything.”

 

Simon gave a bright, soft smile, nodding faintly,

 

“I’m really glad you have him.”

 

Raphael nodded back

 

“And I am glad you have Kevin. I think I would really like to meet him.”

 

Simon beamed,

 

“I’d like that too…you already would have I’m sure- he really wanted to help with the case- but he’s got the flu so Luke banned him from the precinct until it’s gone. The last thing we need is half the force out from the flu.”

 

“Yes, that would be rather detrimental…” Raphael trailed off, something occurring to him, he tilted his head,

 

“You said Kevin is Demi? Like Demisexual?”

 

Simon quirks his eyebrow in surprise, nods curiously,

 

“Yeah…you know what it is?”

 

Raphael chuckled nervously, trying to steady himself, giving a slight nod

 

“Umm…y-yeah it’s pretty close to being Asexual, so, yeah I-I’m pretty familiar.” he paused, glancing up at the other man, holding his breath (No he didn’t need to, but it’s still a tough habit to break when you’re nervous)

 

Simon blinked in surprise,

 

“Oh, you’re ace?”

 

Raphael swallowed nervously, giving just the slightest nod. Simon shrugged, giving a soft, oh so sweet smile,

 

“That’s cool, I’m pan.”

 

Raphael gave a totally relieved smile, nodding faintly

 

“Eso es maravilloso”

 

Simon quirked his eyebrow, smiling brighter, blushing

 

“Umm…I don’t speak Spanish…I’m guessing that means you’re okay with it?” he asked hopefully

 

Raphael laughed, nodding

 

“Yes, Simon…that is more than okay…”

 

He gave a brilliant, beaming smile, nodding quickly, heartbeat picking up a few tics,

 

“Cool…” he said softly, almost to himself, before seemingly startling,

 

“Oh, umm…s-so back to the case…”

 

Raphael nodded, listening intently, automatically falling back into step with him…

 

And if he just happened to stand a bit closer, maybe lean in just a tiny bit more…well…it was just because he was paying so close attention…

 

It had nothing to do with the pretty bright eyes, or the soft smile, the way Simon’s heartbeat ticked up just the slightest bit, breath catching here and there, or the cute little blush on his cheeks…

 

_It was purely about the case._

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ****
> 
> **_Woohoo! Finally got the chapter done!_ **
> 
> Sorry this took so long I kept getting distracted…I have Magnus’s back story worked out- I think it’s really going to be a great place to start. I’m gonna work it into the series little by little, but if anyone wants a sneak peek I put what I have worked out so far on my [DeviantArt](https://www.deviantart.com/aceofhearts85/journal/Magnus-s-Not-so-Tragic-Back-story-SEM-Verse-779309429) journal
> 
>  
> 
> I really love Simon and Raphael…gotta admit sometimes they even steal my focus from the Malec…
> 
>  
> 
> I just can’t help it.
> 
>  
> 
> I really liked Simon and Raphael comparing Magnus and Kevin. I thought it’d be nice having them having someone really understand the bond they have…really getting that it’s not a romantic thing, but they do love each other…having someone who is okay with that, who isn’t going to get jealous or suspicious.
> 
>  
> 
> _Who really just gets it._
> 
> ****
> 
> _Anyways, what do you guys think so far?_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  


	6. A Toast To What’s To Come

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #  _ 💜💜Chapter Complete!!!💜💜 _
> 
>  
> 
> Simon goes home and tells Kevin about his day
> 
> Magnus and Raphael do a bit of work on the case off the books…
> 
>  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The usual, haven’t totally proofread will at work…

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

#  _ Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

 

“And oh my god! You should've seen it! I thought Magnus was cool yesterday but,  _dude;_  that was nothing to actually seeing him in action. His power is just crazy…it’s like an extension of himself- I’ve never seen anything like it.

 

No wonder people are so intimidated by him, I couldn’t imagine him like really angry, ready for a fight…I mean I  _could_  but I’m pretty sure that’d give me nightmares.”

 

Kevin nodded quickly, eyes wide,

 

“Man I bet.”

 

Simon nodded back excitedly, bouncing a bit, taking the last bite of his dessert before setting it on the end table next to his side of the couch.

 

“Right…Oh! And Raphael…  _Wow!_  He was so awesome. He’s really smart and he was really impressed with my idea that maybe the brands were supposed to be protection...and he really liked working with me too! Said it was the first case he’d ever worked on and it was good to get to work with an expert on it!

_Meaning me!_

 

I mean I know I’m not, like an ‘expert’ but it was really cool he thought so…I did tell him I wasn’t but he said he disagreed and he said as good as I did mediating between Alec and Magnus I should probably be a negotiator…

 

Then he s-”

 

“Umm Si? You’re kinda talking about him a lot…like this is the fifth time you’ve mentioned him since you got home…

 

You do remember what we were talking about this morning…

 

Right?

 

He’s the head of the Brooklyn Vampire clan- one of the most infamous clans in existence. He's one of the most feared Vampires in the country. I get that he's really charming and good looking and everything. The guy’s said to be near irresistible. 

 

But he is also very dangerous, and like you said very smart. I really hate to think what would happen if he found out what you actually are.”

 

Simon sighed, nodding faintly deflating a bit,

 

“Yeah…I know. It’s just kinda hard. I-I really think he might like me, and I know I’ve heard a lot about him but…I don’t know. He wasn’t anything like what I thought. He was kind and funny in a sarcastic, kinda dark way. He seemed really open and sincere, honest…

 

I even think he might have been kinda nervous.”

 

Kevin quirked his eyebrow

 

“Huh? What do you mean he was nervous?”

 

Simon shrugged, settling back a bit on the couch, getting a bit of a bright smile,

 

“Well we were talking- he’s really easy to talk to- and it was after you called and he kinda thought that we were a couple cause of the way we were talking. I told him we weren’t, that you were just my best friend and trying to explain that yeah, I love you but I’m not IN love with you and…well, you know how I get rambling.

 

I really didn’t think he’d get it, or even be able to follow, but when I finally ran out of breath and shut up he just smiled kinda softly, and nodded.

 

Said he got it- you were my Magnus.”

 

Kevin perked up a bit at that

 

“Hey cool! I’ll take that.”

 

Simon laughed brightly nodding

 

“Figured you’d get a kick out of that…so anyways, he said that they’re really close, that he really didn’t know where he’d be without him-actually he said he did and he was the only reason he was still standing today…which I SO want to know more about that cause I knew they were close, but I really didn’t realize it was like that…

 

I mean I don’t really think I heard anything about him from before he took over the Brooklyn Vampire clan, but it seemed l-”

 

“Uh…Si? You’re getting kinda sidetracked.”

 

Simon shook his head, giving a sheepish smile,

 

“Oh right…sorry, so what was I-?”

 

Kevin chuckled giving him an indulgent smile, rolling his eyes affectionately,

 

“What made you think one of the most notorious Vampires in recent history was nervous?”

 

“Oh yeah! So, anyways, we were talking about all of that and I told him I was really glad he had Magnus cause it sounded like he REALLY needed him. And he smiled-it was a really, really great smile- and said that he was glad I had you and that he’d really like to meet you, and I said I’d like that too a-”

 

“ _Wait, **What!?**_  I don’t want to meet him! You didn’t invite him over or anything did you? Oh my god w-”

 

Simon rolled his eyes, shaking his head,

 

“Dude, chill. It’s fine…we were just talking he’s not going to just drop by. But unless we have the case finished before you get back you’re probably gonna end up meeting him. But I’m telling you, it’s okay, he’s nothing like we’ve heard.

 

You guys even have a few things in common…”

 

Kevin blinked, shaking his head,

 

“Uh, doubtful. What could I possibly have in common with The head of the Brooklyn Vampire clan?”

 

Simon shrugged

 

“Well- you both are nice to me, you’re both smart, both brave, you both have best friends that drive you totally insane but you love anyways-”

 

Kevin tilted his head giving a sarcastic look

 

“No matter how hard it is when said best friend does something completely foolish, like develop a crush on, like, one of the scariest people in the supernatural world…”

 

Simon rolled his eyes, shaking his head

 

“Hey, I can’t help it…and I’m telling you he’s really not like that. I think there’s a lot more to him than what everyone knows.”

 

“Or he’s just a really convincing lair and is good at wrapping people around his finger and gaining their trust. Tell me one thing that you know that’s real about him…that shows he’s not just trying to work you? Trying to get info or seduce you or whatever?”

 

Simon smirked, quirking his eyebrow

 

“He’s Asexual.”

 

Kevin startled, nearly falling off the couch

 

“What!? No way!”

 

Simon nodded quickly

 

“Yeah that’s what he seemed nervous about. I’d mentioned you were Demi and he actually caught it and asked about it. I was surprised he recognized the term cause you know, most people don’t, and I asked him about it and he kinda chuckled, glancing away, kind of worriedly and he said yeah he did know what it was cause it’s pretty similar to being Asexual so he did.

 

And so, I know I don’t always catch on right away but this time I did and I asked him if he was ace and he…he kind of nodded really faintly, god he almost seemed shy…” he trailed off, shaking his head, glancing over at Kevin giving him a kind of soft smile,

 

“It was so like how you were when you first told me. I know he really didn’t know how I would react to it…man I just wanted to hug him and tell him that it was okay…”

 

Kevin’s eyes went wide, he shook his head frantically, Simon waved him off

 

“ _But I didn’t;_ I just told him cool, that I was pan. And he said…something really pretty in Spanish…which I don’t know but it sounded really nice…and he said it was something good, and he looked really relieved and happy…and he was like really close for most of the rest of the day…”

 

Kevin tilted his head curiously

 

“What was it he said?”

 

Simon tried to think back

 

“Uhh…dude you know I’m like majorly bad at pronunciation and all that…umm…Esa s mrveavilloso I think…”

 

Kevin quirked his eyebrow,

 

“Eso es maravilloso”

 

Simon perked up, nodding quickly, pointing animatedly

 

“Yeah! That’s it! What’s it mean?”

 

Kevin smiled

 

“That’s wonderful.”

 

Simon absolutely beamed

 

“Aww…”

 

Kevin shook his head, before sobering a bit, giving a faint sigh,

 

“I think you might be right…he does seem to like you; but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a vampire and you are basically a born hunter of all things supernatural.

 

I know you’re not like that…but honestly if even half the things about him we’ve heard are true I don’t know if it would be enough to convince him that you are different.

 

I just don’t want anything to happen to you. I know you like him…and I agree it seems like there’s a lot we don’t know about him…

 

But you really need to be careful here, Si…I get that you like the guy, but a crush is not worth your life.”

 

Simon nodded,

 

“I know that, and I will be careful...but you never know, it might work."

 

Kevin shrugged, 

 

"It worked for spike and buffy..."

 

Simon smiled, perking up,

 

"That's true...before she died and he ended up working for her other ex...still I'll take it."

 

Kevin nodded, settling in,

 

“So what else did Raphael say?”

 

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

#  _ Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

 

Magnus turned to face him, shooting him a quick smile, quirking his eyebrow expectantly,

 

“Welcome back…did you get it?”

 

Raphael scoffed, smirking,

 

“ _Please_ …the officer at the intake desk was a Llygoden-dyn; I think he actually squeaked when I came in, he all but ran out of the room…not exactly a challenge. Here you go.” He tossed the small silver object to Magnus who caught it easily, holding it up into the light, examining the silver charm.

 

Raphael slipped over next to him, tilting his head curiously, looking over the small silver wing.

 

“So, why exactly did we need to steal a cheap silver charm from evidence lock up?”

 

Magnus held a finger up

 

“Not stole… _borrowed_. I just need it for a little while; we’ll put it back in just a bit. I found this at the second scene, behind a stack of plywood. I could see it with the spell…it has traces of demonic power; I believe it belonged to the human working with the demon.

 

I can do a Barn bywyd spell. It won’t show me everything, but we should be able to get a glimpse of them, see a few snapshots of their life, maybe even when they called the demon.”

 

Raphael nodded,

 

“Go for it…let’s see what idiot was so stupid and reckless as to summon a demon.” He leaned back against the wall, making a ‘go ahead’ motion, settling in…Magnus casting a spell was always a hell of a show.

 

Magnus carried the charm over to the table with the rest of the items for the spell, placing it to the side. He took a deep breath, rolling his shoulders, the familiar electric buzz of his Magic flickering up, filling the room. Reaching over he placed a small obsidian bowl in the center of the table.

 

Next he grabbed a slender green bottle, a blood red one and a deep midnight blue one quickly adding the contents with practiced ease. The liquid swirled and bubbled, mixing together into a brilliant electric blue.

 

After that he grabbed a small crystal flask embellished with odd engravings. Carefully tilting the flask, adding a thick odd smelling, golden liquid, pouring counter clockwise before making a few complicated movements making a design that nearly looked like a Celtic cross floating on top. The ingredients began to hiss and bubble, churning.

 

Lastly he reached for the bowl setting on the side of the table, taking a pinch of an odd mixture of blackened herbs, sprinkling it evenly over the surface of the roiling, churning liquid. It snapped and hissed, a deep reddish violet smoke billowing up covering the top of the table in a thick churning cloud.

 

He tilted his head, cat eyes flashing, raising his hand, making a few elegant, intricate movements. Magnus took a deep, centering breath, voice starting up, soft and melodic, magic flowing into the odd, lilting words of a long forgotten language, so softly even Raphael could barely make them out.

 

The smoke shimmered and churned, seemingly moving with the rhythm of the words. Magnus’s eyes flickered, taking on a soft, ethereal glow. The smoke began to swirl, sparkling, condensing more and more, slipping back on itself back into the bowl. Magnus raised his hand, the smoke followed, spiraled up into a column above the bowl, undulating and gleaming, faster and faster. Magnus finished the last word of the spell with a sharp snap of his fingers. The Smoke instantly turned to fire; brilliant, incandescent unnaturally deep blue flames, flickering and flashing, hissing and popping.

 

He reached over, grabbing the silver charm, lifting it close to his lips, whispering something, eyes glowing brightly. He blew on it, a shimmering violet vapor slipping from his lips, curling about the charm.

 

Raphael shook his head…over a century of this and he’s still kinda blown away by it.

 

Magnus held the charm lightly between his thumb and forefinger, extending it out towards the edge of the brilliant blue flame, until the very tip of the wing touched the edge of the column of fire.

 

Instantly the fire began to change, turning from a deep near midnight blue to an electric neon cerulean shade, shimmering images beginning to appear. At first they were just bare flickers, just a shadow of an image, but slowly they became more defined, snapshots and small movie like images, shimmering into focus one by one, like a clip show. With them you could feel a wave of emotions, and hear whispers of sounds, and voices…

 

A young girl, maybe eleven, with wild dark hair crying, feeling lost and devastated. A young man, clearly her brother, just a bit older than her trying to comfort her, wrapping his arms around her, telling her it would be alright…they would be alright, even though he really didn’t believe it himself.

 

The siblings setting in what looked like a judge’s office, nervously clutching each other’s hands.

 

_-Raj, you’re just barely eighteen, you can’t-_

_-Sir, I know I’m young, but I can handle this, I can take care of Divya, can take care of both of us…please…w-we just lost our parents, don’t make us lose each other too…-_ he pleaded, eyes wide and desperate,

 

Raj sitting in a small, kind of dingy apartment, his sister curled up on the couch next to him fast asleep, worriedly pouring over a pile of bills, reaching over, idly fiddling with the keys, with the small set of charms glancing back at his sister.

 

Raj, about a year or so older, setting nervously in an office in an ill fitting suit on what looked like a job interview, holding his keys, nervously rubbing the little silver wings like a good luck charm, trying so hard to seem self assured and confident…

 

The girl- Divya- now a teenager, happily chattering on about school while they fix dinner together, smiling and laughing.

 

_Oh please be alright, please be alright...oh god please be okay..._

Repeating the mantra all the way to the hospital, eyes wide and fearful rushing through the doors, spotting Divya sitting on the edge of the hospital bed slightly pale, clearly shaken. Her hair was a mess, outfit splattered with splotches of mud and dirt, a slight scrape on her cheek and an angry red welt on her left arm...

 

He gasped

 

_“Div-what Happened? Are you okay?”_

 She jumped up, flinging her arms around him, before hissing in pain, pulling her arm back, cradling it protectively. She nodded, shakily 

 

“ _y-yeah...I don't know…I was out for a walk over by the old Keas bridge, just kind of exploring and I saw some weird...something over by the water. I didn't know what it was so I climbed up to get a better look and- I-I guess I lost my grip, I fell, kinda caught my arm on something...I'm okay though..._

_It just really scared me.”_

_“You're sure...you are okay?”_

She took a deep breath giving a faint nod and a reassuring smile that didn't quite reach her eyes...

 

 _“I-I'm sure...can we just go home?”_  She asked quietly 

 

He nodded, slipping his arm around her protectively, 

 

 

_Hmm...she's still at it..._

 

Divya's been staring at her phone for nearly two hours, forehead scrunched in concentration. She's never like this- whenever they're both home she always insists they stay off them, that family time was more important...

 

She'd been odd the last two weeks...

  
_Maybe her fall shook her up more than she's letting on?_

 

Raj glanced over tilting his head curiously,

 

" _Everything alright?"_

  
She nearly seemed to startle, glancing up from her phone,

 

" _W-what? Oh umm, yeah...it's fine. I was just looking up something for a project at school- sorry...I'm done._

 _  
_So how was work?"__ She asked rather quickly, locking the phone, slipping it back in her pocket.

 

 

The two siblings sitting at dinner eating quietly...Divya seemingly lost in thought, feeling nervous and worried

 

Raj tilted his head, 

 

_“So how was school today?”_

 

She almost seemed to startle, looking up at him,

 

_“Hmm, sorry what?”_

 

_“How was school?”_

 

She shrugged faintly glancing back at her plate,

 

 _“It was fine,”_  she said softly,

 

_“Umm...I-I'm full...I have some homework I forgot about, I really need to go get started on it.”_

_“Oh, uh...o-okay.”_

 

She got up quietly leaving the table, raj watched her go...gaze full of concern.

 

 

 _Okay...I shouldn't do this..._   _She's your sister you trust her_.  _This is an invasion of her privacy...you are not going to snoop..._

_You're **not**..._

Oh he'll...he grumbled opening the door, glancing around the room. He quirked his eyebrow at the various cups and pitchers of water setting about. Something was definitely wrong...Divya never left dishes about her room; she always kept it neat and tidy. Along with the pitchers there were books and stacks of papers everywhere.

 

He moved over to one, curiously looking over a few of the pages...

 

How very strange, they were Sketches-dozens of them- of an odd creature with dark greenish black armored like skin too many legs and a wicked tail. He slowly placed them back on the desk.

 

He turned slightly, opening the laptop on the desk, going up to history...

 

_What the..._

 

There's page after page of odd articles about cryptozoology and unknown creatures, searches on animal stings, and after effects, photos of welts like she had a few months ago, and some scans of the creature sketches posted in a few groups asking what it was,

 

Okay not what he was expecting, what a-

 

 _“Raj? What are you doing?_   _”_

 

He startles, whirling around, she's standing by the door,

 

_“Oh uh-hey, your home early w-”_

_“What are you doing going through my room?”_

 

_“I was j-“_

 

_“Spying on me? How could you do that?!”_

 

_“I-I just wanted to know what's wrong- you've been so quiet an-”_

_“It's none of your business! I’m not a child anymore; I don’t need you to solve my problems! I have it, I'm figuring it out!”_

_“But what is-”_

_“Just drop it damnit!_ ” She all but shouted, eyes flashing angrily, making a sharp gesture in emphasis, 

 

A sudden crackling sounded, the laptop jerking violently out of his hands, flying across the room, smashing into the wall, flames erupting.

 

 _“Oh damnit!”_  She exclaimed quickly reaching over grabbing one of the nearby pitchers pouring it over the flames, 

 

Raj stood frozen, staring uncomprehendingly, trying to take in what's going on.

 

 _“Umm...w-what just happened?”_  He asked, looking her over nervously,

 

She deflated, sighing, giving a faint shrug, 

 

 _“I don't know...but it's been happening a lot..."_  she trailed off, looking up at him eyes wide and worried, taking a deep breath,

 

_“Okay so when I was at the bridge…”_

 

Raj sat rigid on the couch trying to comprehend what Divya had said... she was stung by something, some kind of creature that shouldn't exist...

 

She's been feeling odd, off, and strange things have been happening- objects moving or bursting into flames whenever she got upset. Seeing things that shouldn’t be there. 

 

There had to be some kind of explanation, some way to fix it... some kind of help...he glanced down at the keys, at the wing charms...

 

_Hmm..._

 

 

Raj took a deep breath, kneeling down, trying to draw the symbols right…this was insane…a long shot…and completely out there…

 

But so was a bizarre creature with a stinging tale that made things burst into flames whenever someone got angry…

 

They needed help…he didn’t want to tell Divya…it probably wouldn’t work anyways, he didn’t want to get her hopes up…

 

_I mean really…even if he did research the symbols and everything what are the odds an angel actually would answer his call?_

 

 

Magnus gasped, shaking his head, dropping the charm, glancing over at Raphael in surprise, the Vampire staring back at him with an equally shocked expression…

 

_Well…this is a hell of a lot more complicated than they thought._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Llygoden-dyn = Mouse-Man
> 
> Life View= Barn bywyd
> 
> Okay, I’d originally planned on them talking about the guys but the flashbacks ran away with me…we can focus on the case a bit, right?
> 
> Anyways…what do you think?


	7. The Harsh Light Of Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #  _💜💜Chapter Complete!!!💜💜_
> 
> Magnus rejoins Alec and Simon on the case, Magnus meets Izzy.

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

#  _ Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

_Well…he must admit, he really didn’t see this coming…_

 

Throughout this case he'd been working under the assumption that the human working with the demon was little more than a power-hungry, probably shallow, jackass. Some greedy, materialistic moron who was so desperate for a bit more power, a bit more sway over others that they would resort to actually summoning a demon, sacrificing humans in return for their ill-gotten gains.

 

_This Raj though…_

 

He was nothing like that…he wasn’t motivated by greed or materialism or any of that; all he wanted to do was protect his sister. He could feel from the flashes how worried he was for her. She was all he had, he would give anything to protect her- Magnus was hard pressed to really condemn the man for that. He’s had a very long life and may not have a great deal of compassion left for most, but even so he can completely understand the willingness to move heaven and earth to protect those that you love- particularly when you have so very few.

 

_There really was nothing he wouldn’t do for Raphael, Clary, Declan and Kai,_

 

 _Nothing he wouldn’t do for_ his _family._

 

Even with that, something just wasn’t adding up. He and Raphael had spent most of the evening trying to figure it out.  Briefly they thought perhaps the demon offered to cure his sister in return for the sacrifices…but even that just didn’t feel right.

 

The man felt fiercely determined and very protective, but he didn’t feel like the type to sacrifice six innocents, not in cold blood- even if it did mean a way to protect his sister. Magnus kept coming back to the angel thought- he’d been trying to contact an Angel…it was possible when the Angel summoning didn’t work he, in desperation, reached out to a darker force… but a little niggling thought kept coming back to him.

 

 Simon had said they’d identified the brands as Enochian- the language of the angels. Many of the characteristics of Iaith-wrth do echo Enochian, which had always been a bit of a mystery as they came from totally different realms and yet seem to have developed rather parallel to one another. In truth some of the characters are so similar that just the slightest deviation could change it to the other language.

 

He really couldn’t see this Raj purposefully calling a demon. If he was trying to call an angel it would stand to reason an unusual being appearing in answer to the summoning would be taken as an angel. From what he knew of Hanfod lladrata the demon looks about as far away from an ‘Angelic’ figure as you can get…however they, like most all Supernaturals, can project a glamour, an outward appearance that hides their true form and allows them to move about the human world without drawing unwanted attention.

 

More powerful beings have the ability to manipulate these. They can make their glamour look like anything they want.  During the summoning spell the demon would hear what the human was asking as well as feel the emotions behind it. It would be nothing for the demon to take on a glamour that would fit with what the human was expecting as far as an ‘angel’ is concerned.

 

Once the summoning is complete the demon is linked to the human, that’s its only connection to this world and until it gains enough power to cross over entirely it’s only means of gaining sacrifices. It would hold a bit of sway over the human, much like the enchantment runes, but not as strong. It cannot force the human to bring the sacrifices, however they can be quite manipulative.

 

He didn’t know how it convinced Raj to bring the sacrifices but he was sure there had to be more to it than him simply agreeing to aid in the deaths of half a dozen people.

 

And then there was the matter of Divya's situation. He recognized the drawing right off, it was an rhwystro tân; a quite vicious creature similar to a scorpion, though with some getting nearly three feet in length far larger. They’re rather rare, tend to stick to abandoned, overgrown places, a type of  anifail demon, generally humans can’t really see them…though when they are hunting they’ll produce a faint iridescent shimmer in order to draw in a food source.

 

An rhwystro tân's sting is almost always deadly; once it stings the barb at the end of the tail actually detaches from the creature, continuing to pump venom into the victim until either the prey or the creature dies. The sting is usually deadly within about thirty minutes. The barb only detaches after the creatures death. After it's death the creature, as well as the barb, ignites leaving no trace.

 

It's venom, in just the right dose and under the right circumstances, has been known to cause telekinetic as well as pyrokinetic abilities. In fact he’d actually heard tell of a few reckless, power hungry Supernaturals that were foolhardy enough to actually try to get dosed with it in order to gain the powers…

 

Though as the only way to get the venom was from a rhwystro tân's sting, rhwystro tân's were fast, armored and ferocious, and the venom was deadly within half an hour, they generally just ended up dead  _(although in his opinion, if they’re so very desperate for power that they’d purposefully get stung by a giant bug then fight it to the death, it wasn’t exactly a loss.)_

 The girl really was lucky she got the situation handled so quickly, he was actually quite curious as to how she did. She was no longer in any danger from the venom…however the abilities would in all likelihood be permanent.

 

A random human teenager suddenly bestowed with pyrokinetic abilities (And-recalling Raj’s thoughts of her seeing things that shouldn’t be- the newfound ability to see Supernaturals as she technically was now one) and no clue as to how to handle them was rather concerning. Given time he may be able to come up with a spell to treat it, but in the meantime he really needed to find her before she hurt herself or someone else.

 

As if a suddenly pyrokinetic teenager and her brothers unwitting efforts to help a vicious demon crossover into the human world wasn’t enough there was the added, irksome feeling that there was something he was missing.

 

The locations forming a hexagram were most definitely purposeful…though what the purpose was is really anyone’s guess at this point. Also there was the matter of the victims; they were far too similar for it to be mere coincidence. He’d double checked, there were no qualifications for someone to be a sacrifice- any human would do. There had to be easier targets, closer ones, and it could have been done far faster.

 

There was far more in play here than a demon trying to cross over, but hell if he knew what it was. He’d tried the spell again but it was no use, once the demon began to cross over all he got was that odd, murky fog like at the scenes. Apparently if he wanted more he had to do it the old fashioned human way.

_Well, At least he came to the right place…_

He looks over towards the parking structure, surprised to see Alec and Simon seemingly arriving at the same time, both carrying two cups from the coffee shop over on 12th\- his favorite place.

 

Alec glanced up, catching sight of him; he flashed a quick, grateful smile, holding one of the cups out to Magnus, He tried to tramp down the little flip his stomach did at that smile, but it was far more difficult than he thought.

 

_Damnit, stay focused; a demon masquerading as an angel working on some bizarre evil scheme is far more important than a pretty detective with beautiful eyes, a sexy voice and a great smile…_

_A REALLY great smile…_

_**Stop** _ _. Focus._

Magnus shook it off, taking a sip of the coffee, pleasantly surprised to find it’s his usual. He paused, tilting his head curiously, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Well, well…really showing off those detective skills, hmm?”

 

Alec chuckled, giving a slight shrug and a kinda sheepish smile that was even more distracting than the last one…

 

_Okay this may be harder than he thought…_

“Not really…Like I said it’s never a good idea to go into Izzy’s lab early in the morning without coffee. You’d mentioned that was your favorite place yesterday…figured they’d remember you, I was right- Josh says hi by the way.”

 

Magnus chuckled, shaking his head slightly, taking another sip of his drink, giving a faint sigh of approval, slipping a bit closer,

 

“Mmm…generally I am not a morning person, however if I can start them with a perfect coffee delivered by a devastatingly gorgeous detective I may very well become one.”

 

Alec blushed faintly, giving a near playful smile,

 

“You would like me to bring you a coffee here every morning we work the case?”

 

Magnus shrugged,

 

“Well what I’d  _really_  like is for you to wake me up with one…but I suppose as we’ve only known each other for three days that might be a bit forward.”

 

Alec blushed brightly,

 

“Uh-Hi Magnus, morning.” Simon said leaning over with an awkward wave and smile.

 

Magnus gave an amused smile,

 

“Good morning darling; Raphael said to say hello. I’m afraid he once again had some things that he can’t get out of but he will meet us later this evening.”

 

Simon gave a beaming smile, nodding quickly, rocking on his heels,

 

“Yeah…he told me yesterday, that’s fine, I’m just glad he-er…I mean you guys, are helping out.”

 

“As am I darling.” he shifted his gaze between the two detectives.

 

“Well, as lovely as this is I suppose we really should save the frivolity for  _after_  we have this solved. Why don’t we get the investigation underway?” he paused glancing back at Alec, giving a slight smirk

 

“Plus I really cannot wait to meet your sister…though I guess it’s a bit early for the whole ‘meet the family’ dramatics. Still, no since putting it off.”

 

Alec gave a faint huffing laugh, rolling his eyes,

 

“Well let’s see; you’re flashy, oddly intimidating, don’t back down, and seem to take tremendous joy in finding how many ways you can make me blush…

 

I have a feeling you two will get along terrifyingly well.”

 

Magnus gave a delighted, surprised laugh, linking his arm with Alec’s, squeezing faintly, tugging him towards the door; Simon chuckled at them, falling into step as well.

 

“No time to waste then, come along gorgeous.”

 

Alec gave a faintly resigned sigh, glancing over at him,

 

“Is there ANY chance I can convince you not to call me that in front of her? She’ll never let me hear the end of it.”

 

Magnus perked up, wagging his eyebrow playfully,

 

“ _Oooh_ …and how exactly are you going to ‘convince’ me?” he asked eagerly,

 

Alec blushed brighter, giving a faint chuckle, shaking his head faintly in disbelief.

 

“You really are incorrigible, aren’t you?”

 

Magnus gave an overly exaggerated gasp,

 

“Aww! Thank you gorgeous, I think you’re incredible too!”

 

Alec laughed,

 

“Come on; please Magnus? She really won’t let up on it…she’ll tease me mercilessly, and she will use it to torment me. It’d be like in high school whenever she’d want to irritate me and she’d call me ‘Alexander’.”

 

Magnus’s steps faltered, glancing over, raising his eyebrow,

 

“Alexander?”

 

He nodded faintly

 

“Yeah i-wait,  _ **no**_ …don’t even think about it.”

 

Magnus squeezed his arm, tugging him closer, looking over at his excitedly,

 

“Oh… _but it fits you so perfectly!”_

 

Alec scoffed, shaking his head determinedly,

 

“No it doesn’t; it’s long and awkward and stuffy and usually the only time I hear it is when my parents are disappointed in me-”

 

Magnus smirked,

 

“Well I will simply have to change that, won’t I?”

 

“No you don’t...I-”

 

Magnus shook his head stubbornly,

 

“I am sorry darling, but this one is none negotiable…it just fits you far too perfectly.”

 

Alec huffed,

 

“I really don’t like it…it just always seems overly complicated and arrogant…and like I said, I only ever hear it when my parents are disappointed in me, so hearing it always kinda sits me on edge.”

 

Magnus tilted his head, giving a faint nod…

 

“Hmm…I do understand that…but it does fit you so very well, you simply need to break that association. I think we can do that, don’t you…” he leaned in a bit closer, glancing up at him through his lashes, voice going soft and sultry

 

“ _Alexander?”_  

 

Alec swallowed nervously, eyes widening, cheeks flushing bright. He gave a slight nod, before seemingly catching himself, quickly clearing his throat.

 

“Umm…yeah…so…I’m sure you and Izzy will get along good. Here…” he said, reaching forward, opening the door to the precinct.

 

Magnus tilted his head, giving a thankful nod, glancing around the suddenly hushed bullpen,

 

He bit back an exasperated sigh,

 

_Okay…it was entertaining the first day but these guys really need to get their act together_

Simon came to a sudden stop next to them, glancing around the precinct before looking back over at Magnus and Alec in confusion, quirking his eyebrow

 

“Uh…what’s going on?”

 

Magnus glanced around the precinct, trying to seem just as perplexed, before looking back at the other two, giving an oblivious shrug,

 

“I am not sure darling…your guess is as good as mine.”

 

Alec scoffed, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Yeah…I gotta feeling your guess would probably be a bit better than Simons.” He muttered,

 

Magnus gave a faintly exaggerated gasp, widening his eyes,

 

“I am sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

 

Alec scoffed again, shaking his head,

 

“Sure you don’t. Come on, the ME’s office is this way.” He reached over, lightly resting his hand on Magnus’s lower back, pressing lightly, indicating the hallway off to the left of the bullpen.

 

Magnus’s breath caught, magic flickering up out of reflex, tilting his head, glancing over at Alec curiously. Distantly he heard a couple of the officers nervously murmuring,

 

_He just barely fought down an eyeroll,_

_REAL subtle…_

Alec quirked his eyebrow, a slight smirk tugging at his lips,

 

“Sorry…I’m not trying to rush you…”

 

Magnus reached forward, hitting the down button on the elevator before leaning a bit closer, glancing up at him through his lashes.

 

“Mmm…I wasn’t exactly complaining gorgeous.”

 

Alec quirked his eyebrow, waiting,

 

Magnus gave a faint chuckle, holding his hands up placatingly, leaning in a bit more as the elevator dinged, doors sliding open.

 

“I do apologize…I’ll be on my best behavior... _Alexander_.”

 

“Uhh…s-should I take the stairs?” Simon asked, gesturing over his shoulder, cheeks tinged rosy pink.

 

Alec shook his head at Simon, waving them both forward into the elevator, simultaneously rolling his eyes at Magnus, cheeks flushed,

 

“Yeah…thanks…just try…please?” he asked in a faintly pleading tone

 

Magnus smirked, tilting his head in acknowledgement,

 

“Of course, darling…anything you want.”

 

Alec rolled his eyes, but couldn’t quite hide the little bit of a smile tugging at his lips.

 

Magnus settled in next to ‘Alexander’, perhaps a bit closer than was strictly necessary, taking a deep centering breath, trying to turn his attention back to the case and away from the oh so enticing, addicting, detective standing next to him…

 

He had a lot of challenges to deal with for this case; A demon gaining power through the manipulation of an unwitting accomplice, a newly powered teenager with pyrokinesis, trying to keep two humans from learning the truth of the supernatural elements of the case, trying to keep the Supernaturals at the station from completely tipping the detectives off with their truly abysmal lack of subtlety, and whatever else the demon is working on…

 

_Quite a bit to deal with…_

_But glancing over once more, he was beginning to think his biggest challenge at this would be simply keeping his focus around the thoroughly intoxicating detective._

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

#  _ Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

Alec glanced over, giving Magnus a slightly apologetic look,

 

“Just so you know…Izzy is kinda intense.”

 

Magnus gave a slight chuckle, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Sweetheart- you’re not actually worried your sister is going to scare me off, are you?”

 

He shook his head faintly,

 

“Umm, well n-”

 

Magnus laughed again, giving Alec a brilliant smile, leaning closer, patting his arm in amusement as they rounded the corner to the Coroner’s office,

 

“Oh that is too adorable! No worries gorgeous, she won’t-”

 

“-Now I’m going to stop you right there. I am the Medical Examiner, my job is to examine medical evidence; it’s right there in the name. I have extensive training in both the medical and the law enforcement fields.”

 

Magnus paused, brows raising in surprise, totally forgetting what he was saying. The woman was sitting in a swivel chair at a large mahogany desk, turned away from the door, feet kicked up on the edge of the desk. All he could see of her was dark shiny sable hair pulled up into an intricate updo, a bit of a deep Sapphire blue tailored skirt, and long legs clad in black rose patterned nylons and spiky stiletto’s in the exact shade of the skirt.

 

He liked her already…  

 

She tilted her head, holding up one finger,

 

“No senator, my job is to examine medical evidence and find the truth, not to coddle and placate the public, that would be **your** job.

 

You are a career politician; your job is to make your constituency happy so they keep electing you. I do understand that a large part of that is them feeling safe, and that is quite difficult with some madman running around. I understand you want this solved as soon as possible. You want answers to give them so they will once again feel safe.

 

I don’t want them to just ‘feel’ safe- I want them to actually BE safe. In order for that to happen we have to find all the evidence we can, we need to examine it in every way to be sure we do not miss anything, so that when we DO come to a conclusion, when we do find our suspect, we have it right and there is no way they can get out of it.

 

Whoever is behind this has murdered six innocent people. Six people who, from everything I’ve seen, have never done anything to hurt anyone. People who by all accounts were kind, compassionate and purposefully went out of their way to try to help others. They murdered these people in cold blood, branded them and left them posed like some kind of prop.

 

I do NOT want this bastard to walk on some damn loophole. I want to be sure we have every last scrap of evidence so that when we do find them there is no doubt, that the case is airtight;

 

 So that those responsible will face all the consequences they are owed.

 

I am doing this the right way;

 

The right way takes time, that’s all there is to it.

 

The entire BPD is working on this, nearly round the clock, combing the streets, leaving no stone unturned, chasing down every lead, running themselves ragged because of this. They are busting their asses trying to keep the public safe; I am making sure all their efforts are not in vain.

 

They are doing their job, I am doing mine, maybe you should focus on yours rather than expecting us to do it for you.

 

You really want me to work faster? Stop wasting my time with these calls. Pestering me will not make it go any faster.

 

When I have information I will call you with it, Good bye Senator Ramsey.” She finished sharply, hanging the phone up with a resonating clack.

 

Okay, he totally got Simon’s initial crush…hell, he hadn’t even seen her yet and he was pretty sure he had a bit of one as well…

 

“Dude you have GOT to teach me that!” Simon exclaimed, moving to her side, quickly holding the other coffee out to her, shaking his head faintly,

 

She gave a slight chuckle, reaching over grabbing the coffee taking a deep drink before, shaking her head,

 

“I already told you Simon, some things can’t be taught…you’re either born with it or you’re not.” She kicked off the desk, turning the chair to face him and Alec,

 

She froze, tilting her head curiously,

 

“Oh…hello?”

 

_Wow…_

_She was absolutely stunning_

 

Along with the deadly sharp heels, intricate tights and perfectly tailored skirt she had a chic black top that perfectly emphasized a truly stunning figure. Gorgeous features, warm golden skin, deep rich brown eyes, a beautiful smile accentuated with a brilliant red lipstick.

 

Magnus gave a brilliant smile, stepping forward.

 

“Hello Doctor Lightwood, it is wonderful to meet you I’m-”

 

“Magnus Bane, the owner of Pandemonium.” She cut in, standing up, stepping forward, extending her hand,

 

Magnus quirked his eyebrow in surprise, taking her hand,

 

“Yes…you’ve been to my club?”

 

She gave a quick smile,

 

“Well it **is** the hottest club in town. So…not that I mind, but why is the owner of the hottest club in town standing in my office during one of the most insane investigations I have ever encountered?”

 

He nodded

 

“I suppose it is a bit unexpected. I am opening a private detective agency; this is my first case, during my investigation I ran into your oh so charming brother. I impressed him so much he begged me to assist.”

 

She tilted her head, glancing from him over to Alec and Simon, quirking her eyebrow,

 

Alec chuckled, shaking his head, rolling his eyes playfully

 

“Umm, yeah, not exactly how it happened, but he is helping with the case…and so far he has actually been somewhat helpful.”

 

Magnus pouted exaggeratedly,

 

“Only somewhat? I guess I have to try harder, _Alexander_ …”

 

Alec flushed brightly, shaking his head,

 

“What did I tell you about that?”

 

Magnus quirked his eyebrow, giving an impish smile,

 

“And what did I tell you about it?”

 

He huffed out a faint laugh,

 

“I’m not gonna be able to persuade you to drop that, am I?”

 

Magnus gave a bit of a shrug, slipping closer,

 

“I don’t know…it depends on how exactly you intend to ‘persuade’ me…”

 

“Ahem” Izzy cleared her throat,

 

Alec seemed to startle, almost as if he forgot she was there, blushing brighter, giving a slightly helpless shrug,

 

“Uh…a-anyways Magnus has actually been working the case with us. He did find some evidence that we missed; some marks on the walls of the alley’s- apparently they’re ‘Enchantment runes’…also summoning sigils which are apparently totally different and used to summon demons and evil spirits.” He held his hand’s up at her disbelieving look

 

“I know it’s crazy, but we have six unexplained deaths, weird brandings in a basically unknown language, and the scenes line up to the points on a hexagram over the city- and yes I agree it’s bizarre, but quite frankly the person behind this trying to summon some kind of demon or perform an evil spell is probably the most sane explanation there could be…

 

Sounds more plausible than ‘angelic protection allergy’ which was our top theory two days ago.”

 

Magnus held his finger up,

 

“Well to be fair we cannot totally rule out Simon’s theory…we still don’t know what is killing the victims. An allergic reaction to whatever is used to cause the brandings could quite well prove to be a factor.”

 

She glanced over at Simon, who put his hands up placatingly,

 

“Hey, it was just an idea…I’m okay with it not panning out so long as we actually find what IS going on here.”

 

Magnus gave the younger detective a kind smile,

 

“Still it is a good one darling.”

 

“Thanks Magnus.” He said in a somewhat awed tone,

 

Alec gave a faint nod,

 

“He’s right Simon…it’s a good theory- so far it’s the only thing that even begins to explain the actual deaths.” he smiled at his partner before turning back to Izzy,

 

She gave a low whistle, shaking her head,

 

“Man- Enchantment Runes, Demon summoning, hexagrams, and angelic protection allergies…as if this case wasn’t bizarre enough…

 

Clearly we need all the help we can get on this. Thank you for whatever assistance you can give Magnus; we really do appreciate it.”

 

He shook his head

 

“Oh, really it is no problem sweetheart, anything I can do to help.”

 

She gave him a grateful smile, nodding determinedly, dark eyes sparking with curiosity and something else.

 

“That’s wonderful…” she seemed to startle, gasping slightly, looking over at her brother,

 

“Oh! Alec I forgot to tell you I got a call earlier from Alejandra’s, apparently they’re going to be closed on Thursday, something about a burst pipe, we’ll have to find somewhere else to have Mom and Dad’s anniversary dinner.”

 

“What!? But it’s the day after tomorrow!”

 

She nodded, eyes wide,

 

“I know, we need to get a reservation as quickly as possible but I didn’t want to just decide to move it without your input.” She paused, glancing over at him and Simon giving them an apologetic look,

 

“I’m sorry for the delay but would it be okay if we just take, like, ten minutes to get this sorted? I know time is of the essence b-”

 

Magnus shook his head, waving it off

 

“No darling of course, take whatever time you need. The case is important to be sure, but you cannot put off every other aspect of your life because of it.

 

We’ll wait out here; it will give me and Simon a chance to get to know each other a bit more. If you have any problems getting a new reservation just let me know…thanks to the club I have quite a bit of pull, I’d be more than happy to help.”

 

She gave a relieved smile, moving forward opening the door for them,

 

“Thanks so much for the offer, I’m going to try on my own at first- I may not have ‘pull’ but I can be scary as hell when I want to be… but I’ll definitely keep that in mind.

 

We won’t be long, then we can get back to the case with no interruptions.” She assured, with a cocky wink,

 

Magnus chuckled, giving her an impressed smile

 

“Darling I do believe we will get along famously.”

 

She laughed, nodding

 

“I think you’re right.” She offered, giving him one more grateful smile, closing the door behind them.

 

Magnus chuckled once more, glancing over at Simon, tilting his head,

 

“So Raph was telling me about your friend Kevin…”

#  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

#  Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec

#  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He sighed resignedly, leaning against the wall, rubbing at his eyes, already tired of this conversation and it hadn’t even started yet.

 

Alejandra’s was one of the few places his parents didn’t complain about…

 

“So if we can’t have the dinner at Alejandra’s then may-”

 

“Alejandra’s is fine, we’re still good- _what the hell are you doing?”_ Izzy cut him off, eyes sharp, gesturing towards the closed door,

 

Alec froze, tilting his head in confusion,

 

“Wha-?”

 

 She huffed

 

“What are you doing working with **Magnus Bane?** You need to just step back and take a breath; that guy is dangerous as hell.”

 

Alec blinked in surprise

 

“H-what…you know about him? What do you know?”

 

She gave a slight shrug,

 

“No, not anything substantial- no real, hard, solid facts, but I’m not stupid. Like I said I’ve been to his club, I’ve seen him there-how people react to him.

 

I’ve seen big, tough, violent criminals cower from him. Saw him break up a fight between huge, scary looking bikers with nothing more than a couple quiet words… saw them literally run out of the club like hellhounds are on their heels.

 

I don’t know what he’s into, or what he’s capable of, but I do know you need to be VERY careful. This is NOT a guy you want to mess with…no matter how hot you think he is.”

 

Alec shook his head quickly,

 

“I don’t-”

 

She scoffed, shaking her head, giving him a slightly exasperated look, quirking her eyebrow,

 

“Oh please; you were practically drooling. You’re flirting, and smiling and normally I’d be ecstatic about that, but this guy is dangerous as hell and I really don’t want you getting in over your head. I’m not saying you shouldn’t work with him on this- hell, he’s probably the quickest, most effective way to whoever’s behind this- but you need to really think before getting into anything personal with him.

 

I get that he’s smart and sexy and I know the kinda dangerous, walk on the wild side/ bad boy thing is kinda hot…I really do-

 

But this isn’t just a guy with a bit of an edge and a colorful background. This guy is trouble…I just really don’t want you to get hurt.”

 

Alec started to shake his head, but stopped, sighing faintly, leaning his head back against the wall.

 

“I know he is; everything about him sets off alarms for me. I know he’s dangerous, I can feel it…and you should have seen when I brought him into the station- you’d of thought I walked in with a tiger or something, and it happened again today when we came in.”

 

She gave a relieved sigh, nodding, relaxing a bit,

 

“Okay, good at least you know what you’re getting into. I was starting to worry all the pretty was throwing off your instincts-

 

I’m not even into guys but I have to admit he’s really hot.”

 

Alec rolled his eyes,

 

“God, first Simon than you; I’m a level headed, full-grown detective, not some hormone crazed teenager. The guys hot, no question…and yeah, honestly the fact that someone like him is even glancing my way, much less blatantly flirting with me, is thrilling and kinda unbelievable- but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna abandon every principle I have just because of a dazzling smile and a distractingly gorgeous body.

 

I know he’s dangerous- I told him as much, a few times.”

 

Izzy froze, blinking in surprise

 

“You what?”

 

Alec shrugged, waving his hand slightly,

 

“Yeah…Well, I found him at the scene the other day. Everything about him set off alarms- especially how he was acting, like everything was a joke and every other thing he said was a come on.

 

 I was sure he had to of just been trying to distract me from the case- I mean, you saw him, guys WAY out of my league- which made me think he must be involved. I brought him in and the weirdness in the bullpen was just totally wild; that jackass Brock was half a step away from hiding under a desk and Officer Phineas was so rattled by him he literally threw a file in his haste to get away from the guy.

 

I interrogated him for over an hour, until Luke came in all freaked out and ordered me to let him go-”

 

“ _Wait… what?!_ Why the hell would Garroway do that?”

 

Alec scoffed, throwing his arms up faintly,

 

“I don’t know! Apparently they’ve been friends- or something, I don’t know, he almost seemed scared…but whatever- they’ve known each other in some way for years.

 

Anyways he ordered me to let him go and not to bother him again but Magnus just waved him off, said ‘I have no problem with the pretty detective keeping me for as long as he likes’ a-” Alec mimics,

 

Izzy’s eyes widen, she gives a surprised chuckle, Alec froze, realizing what he’d said, flushing, quickly shaking his head,

 

“Not the point-he was just trying to get a rise out of me-”

 

“Sounds like it” she muttered with a mischievous smirk, waggling her eyebrow,

 

Alec huffed, cheeks flushing more, pointing accusingly at her,

 

“Okay you and Simon need to stop hanging out so much- he said the same thing…and once again that’s not the point.

 

I know the guy is dangerous; he’s on the case because he said he’s working as a PI and investigating the case and cause some people thrashed his friends occult shop because of all the crazy ‘supernatural’ rumors flying around- which that part was true…

 

We went and saw her to look into the markings we found. And I did get why he wanted to help her, she seemed really sweet. I actually think the only reason he’s working with us rather than going after the culprits himself is because she would be upset.

 

 Anyways, yesterday when we all started working the case I wanted to be upfront with him. I told him flat out that I know he’s into something probably criminal, I know that he’s dangerous.”

 

Izzy shook her head faintly,

 

“That might not have been a good idea; a cop telling a criminal that you know they’re a criminal seems kinda risky.”

 

He shrugged

 

“I know, but if I’m gonna work with him this is the only way I can. I’m not just gonna pretend I don’t notice how odd people act around him, or that certain tone or flicker in his eyes that makes my fight or flight instincts kick in…I’m not gonna tiptoe around and play the fool.

 

I figure if we’re both on the same page there’ll be a lot less drama later on. Besides, hopefully if I’m honest with him he will do the same.

 

I told him I wouldn’t ask about whatever he’s into, that right now all that matters is solving this case, protecting the public. I think on that we see eye to eye.  He said Brooklyn is HIS city and when he said that there was something in his voice that just…” he trailed off, shaking his head faintly

 

“I really don’t know how to describe it, but I kinda get the feeling the killer should probably be more worried about him finding them then us.”

 

Izzy gave a slight laugh, nodding, before something occurs to her, she tilts her hear, quirking her eyebrow,

 

“Am I the only one who feels like we’re joining forces with a supervillian?”

 

Alec gave a surprised laugh

 

“No…but please don’t say that around Simon…with the occult stuff he’s already trying to get me to marathon Buffy and Supernatural to get ‘caught up’…I don’t want him adding in a bunch of superhero movies too.”

 

She gave a faint nod,

 

“No problem…though one thing; he’s not out of your league. He could partially be trying to distract you or whatever but I think the flirting thing is just cause he thinks you’re hot.”

 

Alec blushed faintly, giving a slight shrug,

 

“It doesn’t matter- the guy’s dangerous and almost certainly some type of criminal, nothing’s gonna happen.” He sighed glancing away,

 

She shrugged back, tilting her head thoughtfully,

 

“Alec, I’m not saying nothing can happen, I saw the way you were looking at him, I know you’re interested and, well…quite frankly that doesn’t really happen too often. You’re definitely enamored with him- and I can more than see why- I just want you to go into this with open eyes.

 

 He does seem interesting, charming, intelligent, and witty, and the man clearly likes you. he can definitely hold his own and isn’t going to be intimidated by the whole cop thing. Plus, I can see how it would be exciting for a buttoned downed, overly serious detective to start up something with a sexy, flashy criminal-

 

 Remember this is **me** you’re talking to, I totally get the appeal of breaking the rules- and honestly, I know what I said, but maybe you shouldn’t totally rule it out after all.

 

Just make sure you don’t let the excitement and flash make you miss what’s really going on, okay?”

 

Alec shrugged faintly, giving a slight nod,

 

“I will.”

 

She gave a mischievous smirk,

 

Alec fought down a groan

 

So much for the touching, supportive sibling moment

 

“Good…now we should probably get back out there…Magnus is probably missing his ‘pretty detective’.”

 

Alec groaned loudly, shaking his head,

 

Man, and here he was worried about her just hearing Magnus call him ‘gorgeous’

 

He turned the doorknob, the two of them slipping out of the office, heading towards the morgue.

 

“-and so I kinda tripped and Kevin tried to catch me but then we both lost our footing and fell right into the paint!

 

We left a bright orange trail all the way through the station and he wouldn’t talk to me for nearly a week…Oh, hey guys…” Simon trailed off, catching sight of them as they turned the corner into the room.

 

Magnus looked up at them, the amusement from Simon’s story still playing about his eyes,

 

“Hello darling…did you get everything sorted out?”

 

_Oh wow…that was j-_

_**No** . Stop._

 

Alec took a deep breath, trying to keep his focus; he gave a quick nod,

 

“Umm, y-yeah, everything’s good…thanks…” he trailed off, blushing

 

Magnus gave a relieved nod, flashing a soft smile before glancing from him over to Izzy,

 

“Oh wonderful. So are we ready to begin going over your findings Dr. Lightwood?”

 

 

Izzy gave a bright smile,

 

“Absolutely, there really is no time to waste on this case, and I do appreciate the respect, but there’s no need to be so formal, we’re all working together here, Izzy is fine.”

 

Magnus tilted his head magnanimously,

 

“Well I always believe in giving credit where credit is due, but that will be far less time consuming, thank you my dear. Let’s get started, shall we?”

 

She quirked her eyebrow, giving a faintly impressed nod, leading the three into the examination room, gesturing over to the table with the body laid out.

 

The other three filed in, lining up around the table. David Decker was already laid out; sheet draped about his waist, giving a clear view of the brands, the sharp, intricate black and red marks standing out in stark contrast to his pale, ashen skin. Alec glanced over surreptitiously at Magnus, gauging his reaction…

 

He didn’t look alarmed or in any way unsettled by the cadaver setting now a few inches away. He looked curious, sharp gaze fixated on the body, leaning a bit closer in interest, tilting his head, in an odd manner, eyes flickering over the marks, widening faintly in recognition.

 

_Hmm…_

_Okay…there were the alarm bells again…louder than ever…_

 

Alec tilted his head, glancing over curiously,

 

“Do you have any idea what it says? We haven’t really been able to figure it out…Like Simon said, we identified it as Enochian but no one knows how to really read it.”

 

Magnus shook his head, a flicker of something in his eyes, before they shutter, him giving nearly the same puzzled shrug he gave back in the bullpen.

 

“I’m afraid I don’t darling…they are rather odd, I’ve never seen anything like them.” He lied as easily as breathing

 

“Oh, okay…so was there anything new you can tell us Iz?”

 

Alec gave a faint nod, shifting over to Isabelle, pretending to believe it, trying not to react to the sudden chill that creeped down his spine,

 

Magnus was lying…he recognized the writing, he was reading it- once again he didn’t know how the hell he was doing that- but he knows damn good and well what he saw-

 

He saw the flicker in his eyes, the recognition. He knew exactly what the marks meant…

 

Moreover, Magnus had no reaction to the body- no nerves, no disgust, no remorse or sadness…nothing…

 

There’s no way this is the first dead body he’s seen.

 

He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves, realizing that Izzy may not have been so far off the mark after all…

 

All this time he’s maintained that he knew Magnus was a criminal- in all likelihood a dangerous one- but there was a big difference between an abstract idea and unequivocal proof.

 

He settled in, trying to seem like he was concentrating on the case, but all his focus was in actuality on Magnus; though for a totally different reason than yesterday and this morning.

 

The man was gorgeous and exciting and thoroughly intoxicating…

 

But for the first time the reality of just who this man actually was began to settle in…

 

_He wasn’t just some guy with a colorful, exciting persona,_

_He was a criminal,_

_A deadly one._

 

They needed to work together to solve this case and catch the killer, to keep the city safe, He did believe they were in agreement on that. However the entire point of this partnership was to share information. If he wasn’t going to then there really was no need for them to be working together.

 

He settled back, quietly following along with the case, gauging every tic, every movement, watching for any other indicators of deception.

#  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

#  Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus

#  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Thank you so much for all your help darling, I am sure this will be quite beneficial; we’ll get results in no time.” He reached forward taking Izzy’s hand, lifting it to his lips, pressing a light kiss to the back of her hand.

 

 Izzy beamed, shaking her head

 

“I hope so…I can only hold the politicians off for so long.”

 

He gave a faint smirk

 

“From what I gather of your earlier conversation, you have it down; still I will do what I can to get this sorted out quickly. I must say, unfortunate circumstances notwithstanding, it really was lovely meeting you.

 

 Next time you are going to Pandemonium give me a call, It’s far better when you’re with the owner.”

 

She chuckled, squeezing his arm, giving a quick nod, walking them back to the elevator.

 

“Oh that would be great…I’ll definitely do that. Maybe after we close this case I can come by to celebrate?”

 

Magnus nodded, reaching over, hitting the button for the elevator before turning back to her with an eager nod

 

“Absolutely, that will be wonderful…I have your number, I’ll text you.”

 

She smiled, nodding happily as the doors opened the three men climbing in.

 

“Great, I can’t wait. Good luck guys.” She said giving a slight wave as the doors closed of the elevator closed,

 

Magnus shook his head, glancing over at Simon,

 

“Okay, I get what you meant about a crush being unavoidable- she is enchanting…It must be genetic.” he teased, shifting his gaze to Alexander, giving a playful wink before pausing, catching sight of his expression.

 

Alec gave a slight, mirthless breath of a laugh,

 

“Uh huh.” he said flatly, glancing away,

 

Magnus tilted his head

 

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong? I wasn’t flirting…she’s lovely b-”

 

He scoffed, shaking his head

 

“I don’t care if you were flirting- I don’t care who you flirt with.”

 

Magnus blinked in surprise, thoroughly confused,

 

“Well then w-”

 

“You know what the marks are, you’ve seen them before, you know what they mean-”

 

He shook his head quickly

 

“No I said I-”

 

“Yeah I know what you said- you lied.”

 

Simon’s eyes widened, he put his hands up placatingly, shaking his head

 

“Okay now, take a breath a-”

 

“I SAW it Magnus. I saw your face, I saw the recognition. I don’t know how you know what it is, or why you’re keeping it from us

 

But I know what I saw.”

 

Magnus sighed, leaning back a bit, giving a faint shrug, a glimpse of hesitation flickering over his expression, before that same mask came up,

 

The same one as when they were standing next to the body,

 

“I am sorry darling- I really don’t know what you’re talking about. I have never seen those marks before; I have no idea what they mean.”

 

Alec scoffed,

 

“The hell you don’t.”

 

Magnus took a deep steadying breath, looking up meeting his eyes, gaze sharp and focused with an almost cold, determined edge,

 

“I don’t know what to tell you; I cannot give you information I don’t have.”

 

 Alec gave a curt nod,

 

“And I can’t work with someone I can’t trust. I think we got everything we can from working together- clearly you’re not going to be honest about your information so there’s no real need for us to be either.

 

From here on out we’ll work our case, you work yours.” With that he turned on heel storming out of the elevator

 

“Come on Simon.” He snapped over his shoulder.

 

“Oh I umm…” Simon’s eyes went wide, glancing from Magnus towards Alec’s quickly departing back,

 

He gave a faint apologetic shrug to Magnus before hurrying after his partner, leaving Magnus standing there in confusion wondering what the hell just happened.

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rhwystro tân = Stinging Fire bug
> 
> Yeah, I know Simon didn’t really say much but we gotta figure he knows when to keep his mouth shut…
> 
> At least every once in a while…
> 
> ****
> 
> **Oookay so I know it was a bit of a sudden tempo change but we have to have a bit of drama, right?**
> 
> **_R-right?_ **
> 
> **_(Oh come on you know it’ll work out)_ **
> 
> I kinda love Izzy knowing a bit of Magnus’s rep and being protective of her big brother.
> 
>  
> 
> Actually, I just love Izzy in general- I think she may show up a bit more in this series, she’s gonna be a lot of fun to write.
> 
>  
> 
> And I know I said it’d have 3 parts but that just didn’t fit- we had to see Magnus’s view of meeting Izzy - Alec and Izzy had to have their conversation- and it just made sense to switch back to Magnus’s POV for the ending
> 
>  
> 
> I intended to have the actual examining of the body and what Magnus saw in the markings but this was getting super long and I really wanted to move on. We’re going to find out what he found out in the next chapter, promise.
> 
>  
> 
> _Anyways, what do you guys think so far?_
> 
>  


	8. Who Can I Trust?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simon tries to talk Alec down…
> 
> Magnus goes back to talk to Izzy and works on the case

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes:
> 
> Yay! Entire chapter up in one day…
> 
> Yesterday I got sidetracked I was working on the story but I jumped ahead to chapter 11 (When we get there you’ll understand)

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

#  _ Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

 

_Okay he had to get this situated, that could have been really bad back there._

 

Magnus had been getting pretty defensive- he’s seen his power sparking up…he didn’t think Magnus would actually hurt him, but he no doubt knew ways to wipe a memory or something like that…This case was confusing enough- he didn’t want to add a partner not remembering part of the case to it.

_Or **him** not remembering for that matter…_

 

He knew Magnus couldn’t tell them everything, kinda figured they’d reach a point eventually where he’d hide some parts of the case from them (Couldn’t very well tell two human detectives about demons, magic, spells or whatever else…not without ending up being sent for a psych eveal.)

 

_Still he’d kinda hoped the High Warlock Of Brooklyn would have a better poker face._

Alec wasn’t gonna back down, that just wasn’t who he was. They were really gonna need Magnus and Raphael on this; hopefully he’d be able to smooth it over.

 

_First though he had to catch his partner._

Simon sped up, rushing after Alec,

 

“A-Alec will you- just wait a minute!” he exclaimed, catching up to Alec putting his hand on his shoulder to get him to pause.

 

“Magnus w-”

 

Alec stopped abruptly, whirling around, shaking his head.

 

“He lied! I know he did, a-”

 

“Okay, wait- you’re being kinda loud, it’s gonna attract attention…let’s not do this here, j-just come on.” Simon turned leading Alec over to the cold case room, pushing the door open, ushering him in, pulling to door back closed behind them.

 

He cast a quick glance around the room, ensuring they were alone before turning back to his partner.

 

_Man, he looked pissed._

 

Simon took a deep breath, leaning back against the wall,

 

“Alright, so what makes you think he lied?”

 

Alec scoffed, shaking his head, gesturing agitatedly,

 

“ _Because I Saw him!_ I saw the way he looked at the marks; he wasn’t just looking, he was reading them. I saw recognition and surprise in his expression. He knows what they are, what they say.”

 

_Well then at least someone on the case maybe has a clue what the hell is going on._

 

Simon sighed, shrugging,

 

“I really don’t know how he could; we’ve been at this for weeks and haven’t been able to find anyone who could. Even our research into the Enochian didn’t turn up anyone who really knew it enough to read…

 

M-maybe he just found them interesting…or…or it reminded him of something he’s seen before- he said he traveled a lot and liked to learn about obscure cultures and stuff, maybe it clicked with something like that?”

 

Alec paused a moment before shaking his head,

 

“If that’s the case, why would he lie about it? Why would he say he’s never seen anything like it?”

 

Simon paused, grasping for a plausible answer,

 

“Well…maybe it’s just a really long shot and he doesn’t want to get our hopes up? I mean, if it’s just maybe vaguely like something he saw one time maybe he just wants to double check or do some research to see if it’s just a total waste of time before he brings it up.

 

I don’t think he’s really the type to just throw out random ideas and see if they pan out- he seems like the kind who always wants to seem sure, in control…that doesn’t work if you’re just making wild guesses.”

 

 “Yeah…that’s true…” Alec said thoughtfully, giving a slight nod, before seemingly hesitating, shaking his head,

 

“Okay but why flat out deny it? Even if he’s not sure, why not just say that? He has an idea but doesn’t know yet…

 

Why specifically say he’s never seen anything like it?”

 

“I-well…” Simon trailed off, shaking his head.

 

“I really don’t know…” he conceded, hastening to add,

 

“But just because we don’t know why doesn’t automatically mean it’s something bad. Maybe it’s something personal, or weird or embarrassing or something that you just flat out don’t want to discuss with someone you’ve known less than a week…”

 

Alec scoffed, quirking his eyebrow

 

“I doubt that guy even processes embarrassment, and in the last three days he’s made more sexual innuendos and suggestions to me than I have heard…well…probably ever.

 

There’s no way he’s just suddenly shy about something.”

 

_Yeah he’s got him there…_

_Still…_

“Well that’s true but even so, no matter how confident or extraverted you are most everyone has something they’d prefer to keep private. A-”

 

“Simon whatever the reason is irrelevant. He has information about the case that he is keeping from us; the entire reason we’re working together is to be able to help each other, to share information…

 

If he’s not going to there’s no reason we should.”

 

Simon sighed, shaking his head,

 

“Alec…honestly that kinda seems petty-” Simon put his hands up, trying to cut off the denial he was already seeing ramp up, he shook his head

 

“We’re the cops, **_we_** are supposed to be better than the criminals, we’re held to a higher standard. You’ve already said he’s hiding stuff; you agreed not to ask him about whatever it is he does, to just focus on the case. I really don’t think we can expect complete honesty from a criminal.

 

We need to get this solved. I don’t care who finds what, I just want to get this solved so the people of this city are safe again…just because he’s not being totally honest with us doesn’t mean he can’t still be valuable to the investigation.”

 

Alec groaned, waving his hand, agitatedly

 

“Yeah I never should have agreed to that…and that’s another thing; I know I said I wouldn’t ask, and I know I said I thought he was dangerous…but I’m really beginning to wonder just HOW dangerous.”

 

Simon tilted his head,

 

“What do y-”

 

“Did you see him around the body? There were no nerves, no disgust, no fear, squeamishness, not even any remorse or really any empathy…

 

He was interested and curious; he leaned in closer to get a better look at the symbols.

 

He wasn’t bothered at all.

 

There was no way that was the only dead body he’s seen. And it wasn’t just he’s good at covering his nerves or whatever; he was totally desensitized to it, it didn’t even register as anything really out of the ordinary.

 

It takes months in the medical or law enforcement field to get to that point…at least for all the people I know who are like that.

 

_He’s a **club owner**_

****

There’s no way he shouldn’t have had **_any_** reaction to it…

 

No way.”

 

“Okay but m-”

 

He shook his head adamantly,

 

“What, he dropped out of medical school to open a club? Please, I’m not stupid. I know I’ve been saying this entire time he was dangerous but I don’t think it really registered as HOW dangerous. I can’t trust him…If I can’t trust him I can’t work with him, it’s simple as that.”

 

Simon sighed,

 

“Alec it’s not that simple…if he can get information we can’t th-”

 

“ _Yes it is!_ I can’t work with someone who I can’t trust, who hides information on the case from me.

 

I can’t…”

 

_God going around again, we don’t have time for this…there’s something going on here, something killing innocent people- in all likelihood summoning a freaking demon…_

_They don’t have time for this go round_

“Well-”

 

“No Simon, that’s all there is to it if he’s hiding information t-”

 

 _“Well maybe you’re better off not knowing!”_ Simon snapped irritatedly,

 

Alec froze, eyes wide

 

“What?”

 

_Oh crap…_

“I-I just mean maybe he’s keeping it from you for your own good.”

 

Alec scoffed

 

“What he’s trying to _protect_ me?”

 

Simon shrugged,

 

“Well…maybe that’s what he thinks, I me-”

 

“No, you know what…just stop.” He cut him off holding his hand up, shaking his head,

 

Simon blinked

 

“W-wha-”

 

“You have been making excuses for him all this time-”

 

Simon shook his head quickly

 

“No! I’m not, I j-”

 

“Yes you have…ever since we left Izzy’s; coming up with every random off the wall justification trying to get me to just give up and go along with whatever he is willing to give us.”

 

“I’m just trying to get this solved.”

 

Alec’s eyes widened

 

“ _And I’m **not?**_ I want this solved just as much as you do, but if he’s hiding evidence from us what the hell makes you SO damn sure he’s the key to solving this? Why are you so dead set on him sticking around?

 

I get that you like Raphael, and with them working the case with us it gives you a chance to get to know him, but is that really worth turning your back on your partner?”

 

Simon shook his head quickly,

 

“Alec, no I’m not, I j-”

 

“Simon, you have not had my back once during this. You have been siding with him from the moment he showed up. I don’t know why, but you have.” He paused, tilting his head, eyes going sharp and distrustful,

 

“You know, this entire time I’ve been saying about how odd people act around him; Luke, Phineas, so many of the people down at the station.

 

I saw it in everyone else-how they reacted how they all know something about him that I don’t; why didn’t I see it in you?”

 

Simon froze

 

_Oh crap!_

_God if he says something about Simon knowing about any of this he’s toast…_

He shook his head quickly, trying to calm him down…to deescalate the situation.

 

“I-what? I don’t know anything about him…I met him at the station you were there.” He offered quickly,

 

Alec shook his head,

 

“Yeah you did, but you’ve been siding with him ever since. And yesterday at the scene- I didn’t realize it then but you kept trying to distract me, keeping me busy, but you kept looking over at him.

 

What, did you already know? Did Raphael tell you something about it? Am I the only one who doesn’t know what the hell this guys up to?” he demanded

 

Simon faltered, eyes wide, not knowing what to say, he just shook his head, giving a hesitant shrug, trying to seem his usual, faintly confused, self,

 

“I-Alec…I really don’t know…I just met the guy the other day, I know nothing more about him than you- probably less as you spent most of yesterday with him…

 

A-All I’ve been trying to do is get everyone to get along and work together to solve the case, so that the public is safe again.

 

That’s it…

 

I really don’t know anything else.”

 

Alec’s gaze flickered over him, taking in everything. Simon fidgeted, trying to seem as sincere as possible,

 

He seemed to soften for a moment, before giving a faint sigh, shaking his head, folding his arms across himself,

 

“I don’t know what’s going on with this guy or why everyone seems to know something I don’t and constantly sides with him. I don’t know.

 

But what I do know is you’ve been doing the same thing as the rest of them…you’ve been siding with him and haven’t had my back once where he is concerned.

 

I don’t know what the hell is going on, but this is not how a partner’s supposed to act.

 

Like I said I can’t work with someone I can’t trust…

 

And right now that includes you too.” he finished giving a disappointed shake of his head, turning on heel, storming out the door, closing it with a resounding slam.

 

_W-what the hell just happened?_

_How’d he go from trying to deescalate the tension between Magnus and Alec to Alec not trusting him?_

_There was nothing he could say to fix this…_

_Nothing to make it okay…_

Simon swallowed a few times, slumping back against the wall, rubbing at his face, totally at a loss as to what to do next.

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

#  _ Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

_W-what the hell happened?_

_How did this get so out of hand so fast?_

Absently he wandered out of the elevator, slipping into an unattended interrogation room to think for a moment, settling on the edge of the desk.

 

_What happened?_

_Was he really that obvious?_

I mean yeah, he was kinda blindsided by the writing but he thought he covered his reactions well enough.

 

They had been doing wonderfully…Alexander had met him this morning with a

coffee and a smile. He was joking…nearly flirty…

 

_Mmm…_

It had been an absolute delight…

 

He was so intoxicating, so captivating.

 

Everything was wonderful.

 

Then…then everything just changed…it was like a switch was flipped. What happened? When did it change?

 

He’d called him out about his reaction to the marks…but how did he pick up on it?

 

_And was that when it changed, during the examination of the body?_

N-no…thinking back he was quiet before that...from when he and Izzy rejoined them.

 

He’d seemed different…

 

Subdued, much quieter…the flirting stopped, which could have just been because of the solemn circumstances, but…that didn’t feel right.

 

 His eyes were sharp, focused…watching Magnus, but not like yesterday…it was more like when they’d first met…like he was watching for something…

 

_Hmm…_

Playing a hunch he pulled out his phone, quickly locating the number for _Alejandra’s_ _,_ _connecting the call._

_“Good Morning, thank you for calling Alejandra’s, this is Jennifer, how may I help you?”_

_“Hello Jennifer; I was calling to see about a reservation for Thursday evening…are there any openings?”_

_“Hmm…we are pretty full that night but I do have a few openings h-”_

_He hung up the phone, shaking his head in faint disbelief, giving a slightly amused huff of a laugh._

_Damn, she’s good…_

_He didn’t see any red flags…_

He pushed off the table, making his way back to the elevator, hitting the button, heading back down to the morgue level.

 

The elevator dinged, doors sliding open, Magnus slipped out, making his way back to Izzy’s office. She was sitting at her desk, seemingly comparing the information in a few thick folders. He reached up, tapping lightly at the door. She startled faintly, looking up, eyes widening, tilting her head curiously,

 

“Magnus? What are you doing here? Did you forget something?”

 

He leaned against the door, quirking his eyebrow, giving a slight smirk,

 

“You know, I really have to hand it to you…I had no clue you were lying…remind me never to invite you to a poker game.”

 

She paused for a moment, before giving a faint sigh standing up, leisurely making her way around, leaning against the desk, giving a rather careless wave,

 

“Duly noted. So why are you back?” she asked flatly, locking eyes with him, gaze sharp, bright and focused…nearly unsettling…

 

_Damn he liked this girl_

Magnus gave a faint chuckle,

 

“So…crazy thing…everything was going perfectly today, then we come down here and your brother totally changes…blows up, insisting he can’t work with me…that he can’t trust me.

 

Do you have any idea why he’d think that?”

 

She quirked her eyebrow,

 

“You mean a reason like why exactly a guy who runs a nightclub was totally comfortable less than a foot from a dead body? Totally desensitized to it…it takes YEARS to get to that level of comfort, and yet you, Magnus, were perfectly fine…”

 

_Oh crap…he totally missed that_

He gave a faint shrug,

 

“Oh that…I’ve had a rather eccentric life, bounced around ideas of different professions before I kind of stumbled into the club…

 

For a time I worked as a coroners assistant.”

 

She tilted her head in surprise, sharp eyes looking for any trace of a lie.

 

She wouldn’t find one; it actually was the truth…

 

It was in the late 1880’s and working with Scotland Yard trying to track down Jack the Ripper-

 

  _Well, work with…keeping them from finding out the killers a demon infected with a primal virus…same difference_ -

 

Still he wasn’t lying.

 

She quirked her eyebrow,

 

“You really worked as a Coroner’s assistant?”

 

He gave a faint nod,

 

“Yes…it’s rather macabre I understand but it started as a dare- I’ve never been one to back down from a challenge- and I seemed to have a knack for it.

 

Eventually I grew bored and moved onto something else but I suppose some things remain. I hadn’t mentioned it because…well there’s no none ominous way to work ‘I’m perfectly comfortable around dead bodies’ into a conversation…well…unless you’re actually trying to get someone to go away.”

 

She gave a surprised laugh, nodding…

 

“Yeah…I’ve actually used that when the whole ‘I’m a lesbian’ thing wasn’t enough to get guys to give up. Surprisingly, going into explicit details and specifics of an autopsy works better than pepper spray.”

 

He chuckled,

 

“I could see that…perhaps after he cools down I will explain.”

 

She quirked her eyebrow,

 

“When you do will you also explain why you lied about knowing about the Markings? Or you could tell me.”

 

_Wow…she’s sharp,_

He shook his head, sighing

 

“I d-”

 

She scoffed

 

“Yes you did…I don’t know how, but you saw something, at the very least you’ve seen them before. You recognized them. I’m not sure why you’re so dead set on denying it, but you did.”

 

He huffed

 

“That’s the same thing Alec said.”

 

She smiled, shrugging

 

“What can I say, my big brother’s one of the smartest people I know…he can even keep up with me…

 

Well most of the time, anyways.”

 

Magnus smirked, raising his eyebrow

 

“Sweetheart bragging is rather unbecoming.”

 

She scoffed, giving an unconcerned shrug,

 

“It’s not bragging if it’s the truth…I’m just telling you like it is. You can’t get something past him, and you sure as hell won’t get it past me.

 

Trying to is just a waste of both our time.”

 

He shook his head giving a slightly disbelieving chuckle,

 

_Man, forget the demon, these ‘Lightwoods’ may prove to be the biggest challenge of this case._

“Look I don’t know what you think b-”

 

“What I think is that you are a hell of a lot more than just some pretty, flashy club owner. I’ve been there, I’ve seen you…seen how people react to you.

 

I saw a group of bikers run away from you like the hounds of hell were on their heels. I’ve seen fully grown, tough, violent felons- that I _know_ are felons because I remember them being arrested- cowering from you.

 

I know you’re not just some flashy guy with an overdramatic edge and a colorful personality. - I know that you’re someone dangerous- something dangerous.

 

I might not know what it is- but I know it’s there,

 

And so does Alec.”

 

Magnus sighed, leaning back against the wall, for once at a loss as to how to get out of this…there were spells, but anything involving the memory was quite tricky and he didn’t want to risk wiping something important.

 

 He shook his head, giving an aggravated huff,

 

“Why are you even telling me this? God, you and your brother…it baffles me…I mean if you think someone’s a criminal why the hell would you TELL them you know that?”

 

She shrugged

 

“Because one thing we have in common is we don’t play the pandering game; we don’t turn a blind eye just because it’s the easier option.”

 

He rolled his eyes,

 

“Up till today I found that as one of Alexander’s more enticing qualities…it’s rather wearing thin now.”

 

She gave a scoffing laugh,

 

“Well, hate to tell you this, but if you’re interested in my brother you’re just gonna have to get used to it, cause it’s not going away. He won’t just back down or play nice…”

 

He laughed sharply, nodding,

 

“Oh believe me I know…it’s distracting as hell…”

 

She tilted her head,

 

“So why won’t you tell him about the marks?”

         `

He gave an aggravated sound, gesturing sharply, magic surging up,

 

“ _Because I **can’t** , alright?!_ I cannot even begin to explain it to him, I know he’ll hate that, and I know he thinks it means he can’t trust me…

 

And I hate _that_ …I do not like lying to him; he’s fascinating and intoxicating and intriguing, and I cannot remember the last time I met someone who got to me this quickly…I don’t know if I ever have. I would love nothing more than to simply be able to give him what he wants, give him answers, let him know he can trust me…

 

_But I can’t._

 

Not on this.” He trailed off quietly, taking a few deep breaths, pulling his magic back.

 

She blinked a few times, deflating a bit, sighing, giving a faint nod,

 

“Is it something to do with whatever you are involved in?”

 

He sighed, trying to think how to word this; the girl seemed to be a human lie detector so whatever he said had to be the truth…just not ALL the truth,

 

“Kind of…it’s connected to it.”

 

She nodded, leveling him with a sharp, probing look,

 

“Are you in any way connected to the murders?”

 

He shook his head,

 

“No…not at all. I would generally try to stay out of this kind of thing. I only got involved when it affected someone I love. My darling friend Clary’s occult shop was vandalized…seeing the shop like that was…it hurt… Clarissa is one of the kindest, most compassionate people I’ve ever met. That shop is her heart and soul.

 

She thinks they were motivated by fear of the Supernatural elements in this case, lashing out at the only magical connection they could see. I shudder to think what would have happen if she was there.

 

After that happened I just wanted to get this solved so she would be safe again…so the city could move past this absurdity and we can all get on with our lives.”

 

Izzy gave a slight nod

 

“I’m glad your friend is okay.”

 

Magnus gave a faint smile,

 

“Thank you darling.”

 

She returned the smile, before sobering faintly,

 

“Would what you know about the markings in any way help us solve the case?”

 

He gave a huffing laugh, shaking his head

 

“No…all it would do is bring up an endless, convoluted, tangled mess of more questions.”

 

She gave a slight nod, before pausing, tilting her head, something flickering in her eyes,

 

“Will it help _you_ track down the killer?”

 

He gave a noncommittal shrug and a slight wave,

 

“It is possible.”

 

“If you find him, are you going to turn him in?”

 

He sighed

 

“That is plan A…”

 

She quirked her eyebrow

 

“How many plans do you have?”

 

He shrugged

 

“Factoring in all the possibilities, complications, twists, fail-safe’s and the like? About thirty.”

 

She gave a sharp laugh, eyes widening,

 

“Well at least you’re prepared…” she trailed off, thinking for a moment, before giving a faint sigh, shifting her gaze back at him.

 

“I want this solved…the murders to stop, and for the city to be safe again.”

 

He nodded

 

“I want that as well…all I am trying to do is make sure people are safe…I know it may not seem like it, but that is my only motivation here.”

 

Izzy sighed, giving a faint nod,

 

“That’s all Alec wants too. Once this is all over and the case is done he’ll cool down. If you can show him that he can trust you- even if you can’t always tell him everything- I think you guys will be okay.”

 

Magnus blinked in surprise,

 

“You really think so?”

 

She smiled giving a faint shrug,

 

“What I think is I’ve never seen him act like he was this morning with you…not with only knowing someone a few days. He’s definitely interested in you…when we talked I just told him he should be careful around you. Like I said I’ve seen you at the club, and yeah the coroner’s assistant thing is a good explanation for earlier…

 

But I am far from stupid; I know you’re dangerous. I could see how intrigued he was with you and I didn’t know what all he knew about you…for all I knew he just thought you were a flashy, fun carefree club owner. Usually he’s pretty good at picking up on danger, but usually the danger isn’t quite so pretty and inviting. I just wanted to be sure he wasn’t going to be totally blindsided.

 

I’m just protecting him.”

 

Magnus gave a faint nod, shrugging,

 

“I cannot very well fault you for that, but I assure you; regardless of whatever else I might be, I am no threat to Alexander.”

 

She gave a sharp smile, gaze going hard,

 

“That’s good, because like I said I know you’re dangerous…but you should know, if you hurt my brother I really don’t care who you are or what you’re involved in, it won’t protect you.”

 

_Wow…_

_He actually had to fight the urge to take a step back,_

**_Damn_ ** _she’s good_

He shook his head, putting his hands up placatingly,

 

“That is the farthest thing from my intentions.”

 

She gave a sharp nod,

 

“Then we won’t have a problem. Give him some time to cool down, get the case solved, then just give it another shot…like I said I’ve never seen him like that with someone. I think you can win him over…

 

Though it might take some work…

 

But he’s worth it.”

 

Magnus chuckled softly, nodding,

 

“Yes…he really is.”

 

She gave a satisfied nod, smirking,

 

“Good…well, now that we have the family threats dramatics out of the way, maybe you can get going? You’re not gonna solve the case standing around my office gossiping about boys…plus I’m SO not the audience for it-

 

One, Lesbian,

 

Two, it’s my brother…so…

 

Three, _Eww_ …

 

Maybe try Simon.”

 

He chuckled

 

“Well I suppose it would give me a chance to continue talking Raph up to him, the boy really is quite taken with Simon.”

 

She quirked her eyebrow,

 

“Someone has a thing for Simon!” She paused,

 

“Who is this ‘ _Raph’?”_

 

Magnus rolled his eyes

 

“Raphael Santiago, my best friend.”

 

She folded her arms, giving him a suspicious look,

 

“Am I gonna have to give him a speech too? Simon may not be my brother, but he’s one of my closest friends, and hands down the sweetest guy I’ve ever met. All the things I said about Alec go for Simon too.”

 

He chuckled, holding his hands up,

 

“His intentions are honorable I assure you.”

 

“Good…I’m still doing the speech whenever I meet him.”

 

He shook his head, huffing out a laugh, pushing off the wall, starting back for the door.

 

“I look forward to it.

 

So, when we get this whole mess sorted you’re still going to come by the club, yes?”

 

She scoffed

 

“Of course I am! How often do you get a chance to hang out at Pandemonium with _The_ Magnus Bane?”

 

He shot her a quick smirk and a wink, pulling the door closed, making his way back to the elevator.

 

He sighed,

 

_Perhaps for the time being this is for the best._

 He really did think he’d hid his reactions fairly good but he’d been rather blindsided by the symbols. He’d recognized the language as Iaith-wrth back at the first sight, but even so he had no idea what it would say.

He was lucky he covered his reaction as well as he did. They just saw recognition- they didn’t see panic, or fear, or the near heart stopping dread when it really clicked what he was seeing in the writing…

 

What it truly was…

 

_He was most definitely NOT expecting that._

The writing was a spell; an ancient, unbelievably dark spell.

 

He’d been trying to figure out what the demon could possibly be doing, knowing it was far more complicated than just it trying to cross over…The precision, the similarities, the ritualistic elements, it all spoke of far more…He knew it wouldn’t be anything good.

 

_Still he was not prepared for this…_

It was a Pont yr hollt spell.

 

A spell to reopen the door between realms, to reconnect the Human world with Calon tywyll. If the demon was successful this would literally release hell on earth.

 

Honestly, putting aside his disappointment at Alexander’s sudden change it may quite well be for the best…at least for the moment. He really could not afford any distractions.

 

He needed to find the spell, see what all was entailed and how to stop it. If a demon is trying to raise hell on earth, foiling it was not going to be a job for the human detectives…

 

Plus in truth he’d really prefer it if both Alexander and Simon were nowhere near a power mad demon hell-bent on bringing about an apocalypse…

 

_Not that there’s really anywhere ‘safe’ should he fail._

Still he’d prefer the two be as far as possible from the whole demon confrontation thing.

 

In order to stop it he had to locate the exact spell- And he had to do it fast.

 

He’d seen a few for this purpose in some of the books Declan had given him. These spells were ancient and unnervingly powerful…

 

There were already six deaths, six sacrifices…

 

The hexagram was complete.

 

As hell has not already risen he’s guessing there’s more than just that. In all likelihood one more sacrifice, right in the center of the hexagram.

 

That would be the last step…if he didn’t stop that sacrifice, then this one mid-level demon will be nothing compared to what they’d be facing.

 

All of the deaths have occurred at night- between 10 and 2am…it was just now 11 AM…that left around eleven hours to find the spell, find a way to block or cancel it, figure out where the sacrifice is going to occur as the ‘center of the hexagram’ puts it right in the heart of Brooklyn leaving an untold amount of possible locations, find Raj and the Demon, get Raj to believe that the ‘Angel’ he’s been helping is in fact a demon, and convince him to help as he summoned the demon he will almost certainly be needed to break the demons connection to this world and send it back without letting anything else cross over...

 

_He really didn’t have much time…_

He had to get started, find the spell and Raj before he and the demon preformed the last sacrifice.

 

He’d deal with his Alexander drama later, after the whole Demon releasing hell on earth thing was dealt with…

 

Right now he needed to figure out how to find Raj…

 

That’ll be quite a challenge in and of itself,

 

The man could be anywhere in the city.

 

He didn’t even know where to begin…

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

#  _ Other-Other-Other-Other-Other _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

##  _Raj_

 

Raj watched as the detective stormed down the steps of the precinct making his way towards the parking structure. He shook his head, taking a deep, nervous breath looking over in fear at the angel.

 

“A-are you sure it has to be him? He’s a cop…”

 

The angel tilted its head, sighing,

 

“I know…but he is the perfect sacrifice…he’s compassionate, altruistic and brave-

 

He wouldn’t hesitate to give his life to protect others.

 

He’s the one…trust me…this is the only way.” The Angel asserted, reaching over, resting his hand on Raj’s shoulder, squeezing lightly, it leaned closer, talking right by his ear,

 

“It’s time… he’s alone and agitated; he’s vulnerable… we can get him now…the spell won’t work until the moon is up, it will be in the right position between  six and eight tonight…that is when we can complete the ritual…”

 

Raj shivered, wrapping his arms around himself,

 

The angel sighed, resting it’s other hand on his right shoulder, squeezing tightly.

 

“You are doing fine Raj…we’re almost done. Tonight the ritual will be complete…your world will be safe…

 

Just this one more step, and all will be as it should.

 

We’re saving humanity.” It said, voice nearly a whisper, fingers flexing against his shoulders,

 

Raj shuttered again, swallowing, giving a shaky nod,

 

“W-we’re saving humanity.” He said softly

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pont yr hollt = Bridge The rift
> 
> Part 1- I want to hug Simon
> 
> Part 2- I love Izzy so much she’s SO sticking around more in this series…So, did anyone guess that’s what the demon’s plan was?
> 
> Part 3-Uh oh…
> 
>  
> 
> _What do you guys think so far?_


	9. Rash Decisions Have Dire Consequences…

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #  _💜💜💜Chapter Complete!!!💜💜💜_
> 
> _Alec thinks he finds help with the Magnus thing…_
> 
> **_He Hasn’t…_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so just real quick I’m just referring to the killings as the Branding murders- figured that’s what the papers and such would be reporting them as.

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

#  _ Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

_What the hell is going on with him?_

_How is this one man managing to throw him off so much?_

Alec had always been levelheaded, rational and in control. He didn’t just blindly lash out, didn’t lose his temper, fly off the handle, and yell at his partner…

 

_He did not DO that…_

_What the hell was going on? Why was he letting this Magnus guy get to him so damn much?_

The man was a **_criminal;_** of course he’s gonna lie. He’s tied up in something, something dangerous as hell…

 

**_He IS something dangerous as hell._ **

****

 Alec has known that from the moment he met him, every sense he has was telling him that…has been saying it this entire time.

 

And yet one gorgeous smile, a brief moment of depth, vulnerability, a few nice conversations, and a little playful, flirty banter and he loses sight of all that, getting caught up in the flash, vibrancy and thrill that absolutely radiated from the man. That sexy, buzzing ‘thing’ that made his breath catch and his heart race.

 

He’d got lost in all of it, totally lost sight of the very real, all too dangerous threat hidden beneath all the pretty flash and sparkle. Got so caught up that when the truth broke through…when he’d caught a _freaking criminal_ lying-he’d been totally caught off guard. Was shocked, lashed out…

 

Magnus had got to him…he’d lost perspective, lost his temper, probably torpedoed any bit of help the man would be willing to give them…

 

_He’d really thought he could trust him…_

_He was a fool…_

Alec sighed, not really sure what the next step should be…he couldn’t trust Magnus. The man probably could help them solve the case- and that was more important than everything else- but no way he’d help after Alec’s accusations and he couldn’t bring himself to apologize for realizing he was lying and calling him out on the lie.

 

_There was j-_

 

He’s cut off by the trill of his phone,

 

_Oh good…maybe that was Simon…he did owe **him** an apology he…_

_huh…_

 Glancing at the screen, it’s not Simon, just an unknown number; he hits the answer button, lifting it to his ear,

 

“Hello?”

 

“H-hello…is this Detective Lightwood? The detective working on the branding murders?” a hesitant, nervous voice asks timidly,

 

Alec sits up straight, pulling off to the side of the road, quickly grabbing a pen and notepad, just in case.

 

“Yes, it is…do you have information on the case?”

 

The voice gives a slightly agitated almost laughs, huffing faintly,

 

“I have information on the man working the case with you- he’s bad news, connected to the case…connected to a LOT of things…t-things you wouldn’t even believe, that I can’t even begin to explain…not on the phone…

 

But you need to know, you can’t trust him; he’s playing you, working you, trying to keep you from finding the truth…

 

But I know it…I’ll tell you…

 

I’ll tell you everything.”

 

Alec’s heartbeat was thrumming in his ears, heart racing,

 

“Y-you know what’s going on, you’ll tell me?”

 

He heard a bit of static like noise, the man nodding quickly,

 

“Y-yes…I’ll tell you…everything…everything about the man…”

 

Alec breathed a sigh of relief, nodding

 

“Okay, great, thank you so much, just come down to the station a-”

 

“NO!” the man all but shouted, voice full of terror,

 

“No, nonono…I-I can’t do that…he has too many connections….they’re everywhere…I can’t go in there, there’s too many that’d cover for him…”

 

Alec gave a shaky breath, nodding in agreement, remembering the odd behavior of the other officers around Magnus.

 

“Yeah…I get that…how about I meet you somewhere?”

 

Alec heard a trembling almost whimper,

 

“O-okay…but it can’t be anywhere near the precinct…I don’t want him finding out…f-finding me…Do you know where the old Brentwood Manufacturing building is?”

 

Alec thought for a moment, the name sounding somewhat familiar. It at one point had been an apartment complex right in the very heart of Brooklyn, but got bought up and renovated into offices, than again into industrial space. The last holdout had been Brentwood Manufacturing.

 

 It’d been situated on the very top floor of the complex, what had at one point been the penthouse. The building was six floors, there was a ton of space but it’d been condemned a few years ago, deemed unsafe and left to rot. There’d been numerous plans to renovate and restore it but they always fell through.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“I’m not too far from it…I’ll meet you there. I’ll tell you everything, but you have to come alone…

 

I really can’t trust anyone else, don’t know who all’s in his pocket. If I see anyone else I’m leaving, I can’t risk it.”

 

Alec nodded, quickly pulling back onto the road, turning around, heading towards the building.

 

“No, yeah…it’s okay, I’ll be there as soon as possible, don’t go anywhere, it’ll take me about ten minutes to get there…what’s your name? So I know it’s the right person?”

 

“It’s Raj…I’ll wait for fifteen minutes, then I’m gone…I really don’t want that man finding me.”

 

Alec took a deep breath, nodding,

 

“I understand, thank you Raj…I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

 

He heard a shaky, shuddering breath,

 

“O-okay…but hurry…” he said softly, the line disconnecting.

 

Alec slipped the phone back in his pocket, speeding up.

 

 _Okay, now he’s getting somewhere he’s finally gonna get answers about this guy_.

 

_Man this Raj sounded terrified…_

He’s beginning to think once again he’d underestimated the danger of this Magnus guy.

 

The man was a criminal, a dangerous one, had this poor Raj guy so terrified he sounded on the verge of breaking. He couldn’t believe he’d let this guy get to him so much…let his guard down, even begin to think…n-never mind it didn’t matter. He was lying to them, keeping information from them.

 

Making him question the loyalties of near everyone he knew…

 

_Even his partner…_

 

He sighed faintly, shaking his head.

 

He’d been way out of line with Simon. Once he’d gotten out of the precinct, cooled down, he realized he’d made a pretty big leap there. Simon was the most loyal, kind, trustworthy person he’d ever met.

 

The man wouldn’t betray him…he hadn’t been siding with Magnus…he’d just been trying to keep everyone calm. Logically it made sense to ingratiate yourself to the newcomer, gain their trust. He was just trying to get the case solved. Alec still didn’t know why exactly he was so sure Magnus was a key to it, but it would make sense to stay on his good side in hopes of getting as much information from the man he could.

 

_Also judging by this Raj’s reaction to him he was really beginning to think he didn’t want to be on the man’s bad side._

Alec probably should have done that too…should have just went along, seeing what else he could have picked up, been subtle, bide his time. He should not have tipped his hand, letting him know but…

 

**_Damnit…_ **

****

He had just been totally livid. They’d worked SO well the day before. They’d talked, and laughed…after the conversation about Simon and Raphael Alec was really starting to feel closer to the man, starting to think there was so much more there…

 

Began to think maybe he’d read it wrong after all, that maybe the man _could_ be dangerous but was ultimately a good person. It’d felt like they were getting closer, like he could trust him…

 

_Like maybe…_

_But no…he was a fool._

Just seeing what he wanted to see. It wasn’t hard to understand why; The man was gorgeous and intoxicating, totally thrilling. He was one of the most fascinating people Alec had ever met and being around him gave him an odd exhilarating thrill that he’d never felt before, and for some unfathomable reason he actually seemed to be genuinely interested in Alec. He really was starting to think there could be something there…it’d felt like it yesterday…and this morning.

 

Then it seemed like just as suddenly as it changed between them it flipped right back, only worse.

 

Once he and Izzy rejoined the other two it was like his eyes were open again. Magnus’s comfort around the body was downright unsettling- there were people who he’d known on the force for years that still were uncomfortable around bodies…and then there were the brands. There were dozens of markings _burned into the flesh of the victims_ , nearly covering their arms, necks shoulders and backs.

 

Yet Magnus showed no discomfort, no nerves, not even any remorse. His eyes widened faintly, gaze going sharp, head tilting in curiosity, leaning in closer to examine the markings like it was the most normal thing in the world.

 

His gaze flickered over the markings in an ordered pattern…he wasn’t just taking in the shapes or comparing them…

 

_He was reading them._

Alec knows it damn good and well.

 

As to HOW a flirty, oddly intimidating club owner knows how to read Enochian the supposed ‘language of the freaking _angels,’_ Alec had no clue…

 

Maybe it was like Simon said and it was similar enough to something he’d seen that he was able to make sense of it…

 

_The ‘how’ was irrelevant_

He knew what he saw.

 

Magnus was lying about evidence…lied about it again and again, dug in, steadfastly refusing to admit what Alec knew damn good and well to be true.

_Why would he lie about evidence? Why wouldn’t he just tell them what the hell the markings said?_

Knowing what the marks said, what they meant…it would be huge…could break the case.

 

_Why wouldn’t he tell them?_

_What could he possibly be hiding?_

Alec gave an aggravated huff, shaking his head,

 

_It’s fine…_

If he’s not gonna be honest, then Alec will just have to go another way. If this ‘Raj’ can tell him something about Magnus- how he’s connected to the case, what he’s into, why the hell near everyone at the station looks at him like their afraid to be in the same room with him.

 

He needed answers…but before that he needed to apologize to his partner…he knew Simon could be kinda sensitive, he’d seen how hurt he was by his accusations…

 

Alec really felt horrible turning on the guy like that. He had to fix that before anything else.

 

He got his phone back out, clicking on Simons number, sighing when it went almost directly to voicemail

 

“Hey Simon, no surprised you're not answering...

 

I more than deserve it after how I acted. I'm sorry for what I said, I can trust you I know that; you're my partner and one of my closest friends, even if it doesn't seem like I can trust anyone else on this, I trust you. I know you weren't siding with him, just trying to keep the peace, same thing you always do.

 

This Magnus thing has me paranoid jumping at shadows, I really don't know who I can trust so far as he's concerned and it's really getting to me.

 

It's alright though; I got a call from someone who knows about him,  Raj- he wouldn’t give me a last name, he’s too worried Magnus will be able to track him down…” Alec scoffed, shaking his head

 

“Hell between Luke simultaneously vouching for him and trying to get him out of the station as quickly as possible and one of the biggest, most arrogant, violent, thick headed jackasses I’ve met actually flinching away from him, nearly hiding under a desk, I can’t say I blame him.

 

I’m going to meet him now at the Brentwood Manufacturing building, he promised to tell me everything he knows about Magnus. I really think this is the break we need. He said Magnus’s connected to all kinds of things including the case. I need to know, I need to know what seemingly everyone else knows but is too afraid to say. I need to know the truth.

 

Okay, I gotta go, I'm here now, I'll call you as soon as I'm done, let you know what I find out.” he hung up the phone, slipping it back in his pocket, catching sight of a young man with slightly messy black hair and wide fearful eyes, standing by the edge of the steps of the building.

 

Alec parked out front, climbing out of his car,

 

“Raj?” he asked, moving over to meet the man, tilting his head.

 

The man nodded quickly, eyes darting around nervously, arms wrapped around himself.

 

“Y-yeah…thanks for coming detective.”

 

Alec shook his head,

 

“No Raj, thank you. I’ve been trying to get straight answers about this guy for days and have came up with nothing. I really appreciate this.”

 

Raj gave a shaky nod, swallowing, looking up at him, eyes wide and fearful,

 

“They need to be stopped.”

 

Alec tilted his head

 

“They? He’s working with someone? W-”

 

Raj shook his head quickly, looking around,

 

“No…n-not out here…I don’t want anyone seeing us, knowing I’m helping…I don’t want it getting back to him.

 

Let’s go inside, it’s safer…he has people everywhere…they’re everywhere…the monsters are everywhere.” he shakes his head, blinking rapidly, reaching forward, trying to grab Alec’s hand.

 

Alec shifted, some little buzzing something in his head warning him. He folded his arms, blocking his hands, glancing up at the foreboding building...

 

“Umm…Raj…I get that the guy is dangerous, but so is a condemned building…I’m not going in there, sorry b-”

 

“No wait! Don’t leave, j-just let’s go up the stairs, by the door so we’re kinda blocked from the street…I-I just really don’t want him to find out…

 

Please? I need your help…

 

This needs to stop…needs to end…You’re the only one who can help…W-who I can trust…

 

Please?” he asked, voice strained, near panicked, eyes wide clearly on the brink…

 

_Oookay…maybe he shouldn’t have been so quick to agree to a meeting with no backup…_

The man didn’t just seem worried, he seemed downright disturbed.

 

Something else occurred to him…

 

_He’d never referred to Magnus by name…_

Alec took a step back, tilting his head, looking the man over for anything that he could use to identify him when he got back to the precinct.

 

“Thanks again for this Raj it means a lot. Like I said, I’ve been trying to find information on this Marcus guy for days. I can’t believe I finally found someone who’ll be straight with me about him.”

 

Raj nodded quickly,

 

“Yeah, like I said I will…everything, just not when we’re this much in the open. C-come on, just up the stairs so we’re not out in plain view of everyone…”

 

Yeah…he doesn’t know anything about Magnus…not even his name…this is some kind of trap. He glances around, looking for any clues, eyes falling on the front edge of the first step…

 

Eye catching on a tiny, barely noticeable little mark…

 

Something you only see if you know you’re looking for it…

 

_An enchantment rune…_

_They’re everywhere…monsters everywhere…_

_Simon’s idea the marks were supposed to be protection from non angelic beings…_

_That they may be trying to protect them_

Glancing up at the building. It was an old brick building, had been here for nearly two centuries…that’s why no one wanted to flat out knock it down…it had beautiful gothic style architecture, complete with six angelic sculptures about the top floor…

_Six sculptures…_

_Six stories…_

The building had been abandoned for years…condemned…it was right in the heart of the city…

 

In the center of the pentagram…

 

_Oh crap…_

_Oookay he’s totally read this wrong..._

He’d lost focus, yet again… got distracted catching Magnus in one-admittedly big- lie and was so angry, so suspicious that he agreed to meet a shifty, nervous stranger without letting anyone know where he was.

 

He was a cop…could defend himself…

 

_But so could every last one of the victims…_

He hadn’t said Magnus’s name…he’d said the ‘guy he was working with’…

 

_He’d been following him…_

The victims all had dark hair; light eyes…were in good shape…

 

_Uh-oh…_

He took another step back, unfolding his arms, quickly drawing his gun,

 

“Keep your hands where I can see them, don’t move!”

 

Raj blinked shaking his head,

 

“What no I-”

 

Alec shook his head, moving forward, pulling out his cuffs,

 

“Save it, hands behind your back, I’m bringing you in in conjunction with the Branding murders. You have the right t-” his words are cut off as he’s suddenly, struck from behind lifted clear up off the ground, hurling over the steps slamming hard into the thick, wooden door, slumping down on the ground, unconscious.

 

Raj startles, head jerking around in shock,

 

“Wh-”

 

The angel shook its head, giving a slow smile, meeting his eyes, sending a prickle of something down Raj’s spine.

 

“Very good Raj…we have the last one. The ritual will soon be complete; your world will be safe.

 

Come now…we must get him upstairs, I have everything we need, the sun will set soon, the moon will rise and in just a few hours you can complete the ritual…

 

The final sacrifice…”

 

Raj blinked several times, blanching,

 

“W-what? I-but…the marks…how would that even work?”

 

The angel shook its head, eyes almost amused,

 

“This one is a bit different than the others…

 

It is not just his essence we need.”

 

Raj swallowed, blinking, glancing worriedly over at the crumpled unconscious detective,

 

“W-what…what do we need?”

 

“Blood…

 

A lot of it, all of it.”

 

Raj shook his head quickly,

 

“W-b-but how…”

 

The Angel smiled, reaching over, pressing something into Raj’s hand, closing his fingers around it.

 

Raj glanced down, then froze, heart stopping, the sunlight catching on the razor sharp, obsidian blade.

 

The angel sighed, reaching up, resting his hands on Raj’s shoulders, squeezing firmly, leaning close, voice soft, right by his ear,

 

“This is the last step…the only way…we are so close…

 

So very close…

 

Just a few hours and it can be completed…

 

This will protect them…

 

Protect your sister…

 

Protect everyone…

 

You are saving humanity…” it finished, voice but a whisper, squeezing his shoulders once more.

 

“I-I” he gulped, taking a shaky, shuttering breath, hands shaking.

 

“I am saving humanity.”

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

#  _ Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

 

Simon sighed, shaking his head, looking over the footage Annabelle had cued up on the screen in the AV lab…

 

“This is really all we have?”

 

She nodded, giving a faint huff and a shrug,

 

“Yeah, we scoured all the possible routes from the club to where Decker was found and they were caught a few times by a couple other security cameras and the ATM on 12th but you can’t see the guys face, there’s some kind of interference, it’s like one of those IR camera jammer things…

 

Not like their hard to get…

 

Or make…

 

Thank you YouTube…

 

Sometimes I really hate the internet.” She grumbled

 

Simon gave a faint nod, leaning closer, looking over the footage. You could see Decker standing outside the club making the call. Someone comes up, standing hesitantly, waiting for him to finish his call. It’s a man, shorter then Decker, probably a few inches shy of six feet, a bit on the slim side, really not that physically threatening looking. Simon could kinda get why the guy didn’t register as a threat. He has black, kinda messy hair and a somewhat deep complexion, but couldn’t tell much else.

 

His face was just a blur- it COULD be IR interference…that’s what most humans like Annabelle would think, but it didn’t look quite right. He’d be willing to bet it’s some kind of spell or the like…

 

_Not that anyone’s actually gonna tell HIM that since they think he’s human too…_

_Damnit…he really needs Kevin to come back from leave._

He feels like he’s working blind. He really doesn’t know how Annabelle and the other regular humans do it...it must be so frustrating.

 

Simon shakes his head faintly, leaning in, looking for anything that could be use to identify the man.  He seems twitchy and nervous, they talk for a moment, he gets the feeling they don’t know each other; it doesn’t look like the interaction between people familiar with each other.

 

Simon sees Decker shake his head, taking a step back going on alert, clearly something clicking for him, he begins to turn back to the club but the guy stops him, reaching forward, catching his hand, tugging lightly. He sees the instantaneous change in Decker, all traces of worry or hesitation fall away. He nods allowing the man to lead him away from the club.

 

Simon shakes his head,

 

Annabelle nods,

 

“Yeah I know…I’ve watched it well over a dozen times trying to find something we can use, I keep hoping it’d end differently, that he sticks to his first instinct, won’t follow.”

 

Simon sighs, nodding,

 

“Unfortunately we can’t do anything to help him, all we can do is try to track down whoever’s behind it so it doesn’t happen again.

 

Did you find anything we can use?”

 

She shrugged reaching up tucking a lock of her pixie cut hair pink tinged brown hair behind her ear.

 

“There’s really not much. Guys about 5’9 weighs between one thirty and one sixty, medium deep complexion, black hair, I’d say early to mid twenties from the build and mannerisms but that’s just a guess. He seems like he’s either really nervous or on something- very high strung and jittery- though I guess if you’re trying to somehow lure a dude to his weird, inexplicable branded death that kinda stands to reason.

 

He’s wearing jeans and a polo shirt, nothing that really stands out there- though he’s not dressed like the victims and he’s not dressed for a club, so I’m guessing he wasn’t gonna be spending a lot of time in there.

 

Decker didn’t know him, but the guy went right up to him. I think he called him by his name as Decker nodded and seemed surprised and kind of confused by the recognition. If I had to guess I’d say he’d picked Decker out beforehand, maybe even followed him, but that’s a straight up guess.

 

The way Decker just suddenly changes, loses his suspicion really worries me. It happens almost as soon as the dude touches him…I kind of wonder if he’s using some kind of poison or drug. I know The ME’s tested for basically everything and then some but you can only test for things that we KNOW of…

 

There’s new drugs hitting the streets every day. Maybe it’s some kind of fast acting roofie thing or something...

 

Something new that we haven’t really came upon yet, maybe transferred skin to skin or from a finger prick or something…

 

I don’t know, but he went from suspicious to complacently following the dude in a matter of seconds, just from the guy taking his hand, and I can’t explain that.

 

That’s about all I got though-Nothing we can really use to identify him- I mean, if we get a suspect we can compare them but that’s about it.

 

Sorry detective, I wish I could give you more.” She said apologetically,

 

Simon shook his head, resting his hand on her shoulder,

 

“Hey, it’s okay, we can only work with what we got…you’re the best AV tech there is…if you can’t find something, that’s cause it’s not there.” He assured, squeezing her shoulder lightly,

 

She smiled, glancing up at him,

 

“Thanks Simon.”

 

He shrugged,

 

“It’s the truth, and as soon as we get a suspect I’m sure it’ll be really useful. Thanks again.” he flashed a reassuring smile, patting her shoulder once more,

 

She nodded, shifting back to the footage, all but dismissing him. Simon turned making his way out the door, giving a faint sigh.

 

_This would be so much easier with Alec_

He really hoped after the guy had a breather he’d forgive him. Alec was totally right in his anger- Simon _was_ kind of covering for Magnus, but he couldn’t explain why, and he knew that wouldn’t go over well. He wanted to apologize, to try to explain, he just didn’t know how the hell he was going to do that.

 

Not without risking hurting Alec more than a few lies and excuses ever could.

 

 He felt horrible lying, but it’s the only way. Most humans simply could not process the supernatural. A scarce few could, but they had to be very strong mentally and extremely brave, even then it seemed random who could handle it. Kevin said there were rumors that there may be a kind of genetic predisposition involved, maybe something similar to the one that produced Gwir-dyst but that was all just theory.

 

There really was no way that he knew to tell who could or couldn’t process the knowledge beforehand. The rare few that could seem to go about their lives as usual, but for most it pretty much broke them.

 

He’d seen it a few times over the years. Those that find out and just straight up can’t process it. They totally lose touch with reality; becoming shells of their former selves, not only seeing the existing Supernaturals, but seeing every single person as some type of terrifying creature, seeing things that aren’t even there. Every shadow, every breeze, every wisp of smoke or fog becomes a terrifying threat.

 

Most ultimately end up in mental institutions, totally incapable of functioning in the real world. 

 

_It was painfully sad._

 

The majority of Supernaturals simply would not take the risk, not wanting to gamble on robbing someone of their sanity- even when lives were on the line. Revealing the supernatural was generally seen as the last resort to end all last resorts, as once it happened there typically was no going back.

 

Only the most powerful Fae or Magics could even begin to repair the damage, and even then just by wiping the memories from the human- which had its own laundry list of dangers. Kevin had never actually heard of any even attempting it, at least not where it didn’t end up causing even more damage to the humans fragile psyche.

 

He hated lying to Alec- the man was hands down one of the bravest, strongest people he’d ever met…honestly if he had to pick one human that’d be able to handle the Supernatural thing it would be Alec _(Okay, so maybe Izzy first, then Alec a very close second)_ he wanted to so many times but…

 

_God…_

_If he was wrong? If it ended up breaking Alec, leaving him a gibbering mess, no longer able to function?_

_He would never be able to forgive himself._

 

He wished there was a different option but he was not willing to risk his partner’s sanity.

 

He sighed shaking his head, trying yet again to think up a plausible explanation for his partner, it always made him feel sick having to lie to him, but his discomfort was a hell of a lot more palatable than the alternative.

 

 It had to be something fairly close to the truth, as Alec was excellent at catching lies- he’d seen more than a few of the officers at the station scrambling for explanations for the detective, even Luke at times got tripped up by him.

 

_His partner really was the best detective he’d ever met._

_Hmm…_

Maybe he should call Kevin, ask him for ideas, between the two of them they could usually come up with something. He pulled out his phone, only to pause realizing it was off…

 

_Oh damnit…_

He’d forgot to turn it on after the trip to the morgue-

 

He always turned it off when they were there- Izzy did NOT like to be interrupted, especially when it was a work thing and she had her fancy overly complicated ME’s stuff going- he’d take a rabid monster over a pissed off Izzy any day…

 

_Well…hopefully he didn’t miss anything important._

Kev texted, he’s picking up Thai for dinner, that’s nice of him. Jenna from the comic book store tried to call then texted, The Young Avengers set was in- that was awesome, he wanted to reread them as news of a movie had started circling…

 

_Oh damnit…he missed a text from **Raphael!**_

_Aww…_

He’d just texted to ask how he was doing; Magnus told him about Alec’s confrontation and he wanted to know if he was okay.

_That’s so sweet…_

He really did seem like such a great guy, he hoped he got a chance to spend more time with him, get to know him better. Still, texting was a really promising start.

He’d j-

 

Oh, he had a missed call from Alec.

 

Crap…he’s gonna think Simon’s ignoring him. Hopefully he’s not too much angrier than he already was…

 

_Well…can’t put it off…let’s see how bad this is…_

He sighed, clicking the button, hesitantly holding it to his ear.

 

“Hey Simon, no surprised you're not answering...I more than deserve it after how I acted. I'm sorry for what I said, I can trust you I know that; you're my partner and one of my closest friends, even if it doesn't seem like I can trust anyone else on this, I trust you. I know you weren't siding with him, just trying to keep the peace, same thing you always do.

 

This Magnus thing has me paranoid, jumping at shadows. I really don't know who I can trust so far as he's concerned and it's really getting to me.

 

It's alright though; I got a call from someone who knows about him,  Raj- he wouldn’t give me a last name, he’s too worried Magnus will be able to track him down…

 

Hell between Luke simultaneously vouching for him and trying to get him out of the station as quickly as possible and one of the biggest, most arrogant, violent, thick headed jackasses I’ve met actually flinching away from him, nearly hiding under a desk, I can’t say I blame him.

 

I’m going to meet him now at the Brentwood Manufacturing building, he promised to tell me everything he knows about Magnus. I really think this is the break we need. He said Magnus’s connected to all kinds of things including the case. I need to know, I need to know what seemingly everyone else knows but is too afraid to say. I need to know the truth.

 

Okay, I gotta go, I'm here now, I'll call you as soon as I'm done, let you know what I find out.”

 

Simon just stood there frozen for a moment, trying to process what he just heard, it just not computing…

 

Someone called Alec with information on Magnus…

 

_Someone called a **human** detective with information on the High Warlock Of Brooklyn…_

No way in hell…

 

But if that’s not the case then…

 

**_Oh CRAP!!_ **

****

He startles, nearly dropping his phone, quickly hitting Alec’s number…

 

It rang…and rang…and rang…

 

Voicemail…

 

He turned, rushing for the door heading for his car.

 

_Oh no…this was bad…this was REALLY bad._

Looking at the time the call came in at four, it was nearly five thirty now and there was nothing else from him.

 

No way was he still meeting with this guy…

 

**_Oh god…_ **

****

What was he gonna do?

 

Alec was meeting with someone about Magnus…or at least that’s what they said, but that just didn’t feel right…it had to be a trap…

 

_How the hell was he gonna deal with this?_

 

No way could he handle this alone; no way this wasn’t connected to the murders…this Raj guy told him that Magnus was involved with the case and a bunch of other things…

 

Magnus wasn’t involved in the murders, it had to be a trap and if that’s the case than in all likelihood this Raj is whoever’s behind the murders…whoever has been using innocent people for sacrifices to summon a _freaking **demon** …_

_Innocent people who are the same physical type as **Alec**_

_The guy at the club…the way he’d so easily got Decker to follow him…it had to have been a spell, or enchantment or some kind of demonic sway or something…_

_A-and Clary’s fear…the worry…the warning of a darkness around Alec…_

_And the Victims…_

_All of them had dark hair, and light eyes,_

_All were fit…_

_All of them were good, protective, compassionate, selfless people…_

_All of them could defend themselves…_

_Just like Alec…_

Oh god…

 

Who could he call? Kevin was the only one who knew what he was…but…he loved the guy and he was a great cop but this case involved demon summoning, human sacrifices, crazy supernatural brandings, enchantment runes and who the hell knows what else…

 

He needed someone who’d know magic and demons and could face down whatever the hell was behind all of this…

 

There was only one person he could think of that fit that…

 

_Oh god how is he gonna do this…_

He doesn’t want to tell him that he knows about everything, Magnus seems like a good guy, but he is by far the most powerful supernatural being in the city…probably the country…and who knows how much farther…

 

The term Gwir-dyst generally lead to fear or lashing out…

 

_And he sure as hell couldn’t see the High Warlock Of Brooklyn being afraid of him…_

 

If he led with that he could be dead before he even got to the Alec lured into a trap by a demon summoning murderer thing…If there’s no other choice he’ll tell him, but it’s not something he can explain over the phone.

 

Still he’s the only hope at saving Alec.

 

As he climbed into his car he hit Magnus’s number with shaky fingers, holding it to his ear…

 

The call connects on the third ring,

 

“Hello darling I-”

 

“Magnus no time. I think Alec’s in trouble. He called me and apologized and said that he’s been really off because of you and I know that’s not your fault and I’m sure there’s a really good reason you couldn’t tell him what you saw in the marks and I don’t even care what it is right now cause some guy named Raj called Alec and told him they have information on you and the case and how you’re involved in the case and I really don’t think you are cause If you were why would you be helping us at all so they’re lying only I think their lying about a hell of a lot more and I think it’s a trap and I don’t know what’s going on or what’s involved in this case but if they knew enough to know Alec was suspicious of you and angry about you then they had to have been watching him and if they are then they’re after him and it like just occurred to me this minute that Alec is, like exactly the same type as the victims and this all just seems way too much and I really don’t know what to do cause I think they got Alec a-and…

 

I-I…oh god Magnus I don’t know what to do and I’m freaking out cause the call was over an hour ago and he said he’d call when he left and let me know what he found out and he hasn’t and he thinks I was ignoring him cause he yelled at me and _I **wasn’t**_ I totally wasn’t I just forgot to turn my phone back on...and…and….”he trailed off gasping for air, heart racing, feeling dizzy and lightheaded,

 

“Simon sweetheart, calm down, breathe…it is okay…we have time…just breathe for a second, nothing’s going to happen for at least another hour…

 

It’s okay we have time…

 

Breathe sweetheart.” He said, voice, soft and soothing, oddly melodic,

 

Simon gasped feeling a warm, comforting feeling enveloping him, his heart rate slowed, he leaned back…

 

_Oh thank god…Magnus sounded like he knew what was going on…_

Also he was pretty sure he just used some kind of spell on him which usually he’d kinda take issue with, but as he’d been on the verge of a panic attack he was kinda good with it.

 

“Are you better sweetheart?” Magnus asked softly,

 

Simon nodded, then realizing he couldn’t actually _hear_ him nodding, shakily answered,

 

“Y-yeah…I think so…thank you…an hour?”

 

“Yes…I found out what is going on; it’s a spell…well…the person behind it believes it is a spell… I do believe they are quite deranged…seeing monsters and demons everywhere…

 

They need one more sacrifice for the spell, it would be at the center of the hexagram, and must be done under the harvest moon, when it is fully risen, that is not until between six thirty and seven tonight…

 

The sacrifice **_must_** be made then or it will not work, not that it will anyways, but if they’re trying to follow the spell they will be following it step by step.

 

Did Alec mention where he was meeting Raj?”

 

Simon took another deep breath, nodding again,

 

“Y-yeah, at the old Brentwood Manufacturing building.”

 

 Magnus inhaled sharply, Simon had a feeling he was nodding too,

 

“Six stories right in the center of Brooklyn.”

 

“Right in the center of the Hexagram.” Simon added hollowly,

 

“I know darling. We have time…we’ll get him back…” he trailed off, voice rather unsure,

 

Umm…I…t-”

 

Simon cut him off, shaking his head,

 

“Magnus, let’s not do this…I’m not Alec…I know you were lying about not recognizing the marks, I know you probably know a hell of a lot more about this than I do, hell than I ever will…

 

I don’t know what you’re into, what you’re capable of or anything else, but I know you’re not just a club owner…Alec’s not the only one that can pick up on things.

 

But right now I don’t care. I don’t care how dangerous you are or what you do or how you do it or whatever else.

 

My partner is in trouble, someone wants to sacrifice him to a demon…

 

I do not care what has to happen or HOW it has to happen to prevent that…it just needs to happen.

 

I’m leaving the precinct now but it’s over a twenty minute drive and that’s without traffic, I’m hoping you’re closer. I’ll get there when I can, if you get there first don’t bother waiting for me, just get my partner out.

 

I don’t care about anything else right now. I just want my partner alive and safe…nothing else matters.

 

Just protect Alec.”

 

Magnus made a soft, odd sound, almost a purring, growling something or other that made the hairs on the back of Simon’s neck stand on end.

 

 “That, my dear is an order I am more than willing to take.”

 

_Whoa…_

**_So_ ** _glad the dudes on his side…_

He’d never heard that tone before, and he really hoped he never heard it directed at him…the quiet, dangerous, resonance of the words sending a chill down his spine

 

“Thank you Magnus.”

 

“Of course dear…I just met Alexander, I am in no way ready to say good bye…If this Raj so much as harms one hair on his head…

 

Mmm…

 

He is going to need a hell of a lot more than a demon for protection.”

 

_Yup…there went that chill again…_

He glanced nervously at the phone, listening to the silence on the other end of the line.

 

Well…this Raj dude was trying to summon a demon, seemingly already having some kind of demonic sway or whatever…

 

_But he had the freaking **High Warlock Of Brooklyn…**_

_Yeah…_

_This Raj guy didn’t stand a chance._

 

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _So I know people were wondering why Simon and Magnus and everyone didn’t just tell Alec…I think this kinda explains it-_
> 
> _I didn’t want it to just be they’re not telling him cause ‘it’s a secret Shh!’…this I thought made it more understandable._
> 
> _Okay, I know it’s not the rescue yet but we’re getting there…_
> 
> _We have our rescue party on their way…_
> 
> _I’m gonna try to get the 1 st half up tomorrow but no promises as I do have to work…_
> 
> _What do you guys think so far?_


	10. Exactly HOW Hard Did I Hit My Head?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #  _ Chapter Complete!!! _
> 
> _Magnus researches,_
> 
> _Alec wonders exactly how hard he hit his head,_

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#  _ Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus _

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“Hey Mags, what about this?” Raphael asked, holding up one of the spell books, Magnus slipped over by him, quickly glancing over it, shaking his head,

 

“No, the markings mentioned the harvest moon…this says during the summer solstice, it’s not the same, closer, but we must find the exact spell so we know what we are dealing with. The markings are in Iaith-wrth, if that’s the case then the spell itself may be in it as well.”

 

Raphael nodded faintly

 

“I can’t read Iaith-wrth so I can't really be much help with that. Maybe I’ll go back over and see if I can find the spell Raj used to summon the ‘angel’ that could give us something…

 

Oh and I looked into the records in family services, their security is crap, I only found one case from six years ago where the names Raj and Divya came up-

 

Their last name is Nadim; the parents died in a car crash, Raj took custody of Divya-

 

She attends Sun Crest High School. He has a decent job as an accountant at Genentech, some fancy Tech Company; he’s been there for four years now. I have their address; it is over on 40th street, in the Sweet Water Apartment complex.”

 

Magnus gave him an impressed smile, nodding faintly,

 

“Very good darling- I really am quite glad you’ve taken an interest in this hacking thing…comes in quite handy.”

 

He shrugged

 

“Eh, it’s interesting and challenging and you can do it at any time of the day so it keeps me busy in the summer when I can’t leave the apartment for nearly eighteen hour of the day-”

 

Magnus shook his head faintly,

 

“Dear that's not the only option, you know all you have to do is give me a call and I can open a portal for you to here.”

 

Raphael chuckled,

 

“Yeah I know, and thanks Mags, you know how much I appreciate the spell- even if it's almost unnervingly powerful and kind of gives me a headache if I stop to think about it for too long- but hiding out in your lair isn’t much different than the apartment…plus you have High Warlock business and I don’t want to feel like I’m constantly underfoot.”

 

Magnus rolled his eyes

 

“Sweetheart you know you never are, and there are three floors and more rooms that I can keep track of. It’s not as if there’s exactly a lack of space.”

 

He nodded faintly, turning back to the stack of books about Enochian, idly flipping through another of them, looking for anything that jumped out,

 

“That’s true enough, I j…

 

Hey isn’t this the symbol Raj was drawing…or like the one he was drawing?” he paused, holding the book out to Magnus,

 

He slipped closer, tilting his head, looking over the page, eyes sparking in interest, slowly nodding.”

 

“Yes…that’s it!” he gasped, eyes widening,

 

“And I see what he did- the curves around the edge of the third symbol, if you invert them it forms the Iaith-wrth symbols Awydd barus

 

It’s used to summon a Hanfod lladrata, it’s subtle but it changes everything.

 

This is how he called the demon.”

 

Raphael looked it over, quickly reading the spell,

 

“So…the demon, it’s bound to Raj now…is it controlling him?” he asked, glancing over at Magnus,

 

He sighed tilting his head, giving a faint shrug,

 

“That is the question, isn’t it? It cannot fully take possession of him but it does hold a great deal of sway over him. It could compel him…and if Raj is under the impression that the being he is working with is in fact an angel he may be convinced what he’s doing is just- the will of the angels…

 

I-if that’s the case, if he thinks that he’s on some divine mission lead by an angelic being…

 

Combined with its sway over him…it is quite possible that the poor man truly believes what he is doing is for the good of Mankind.” He trailed off, with a faint shrug,

 

Raphael shook his head, eyes wide,

 

“Dios…that is creepy as hell.”

 

Magnus nodded in agreement,

 

“I cannot agree more…all the man wanted to do is protect his baby sister after she was attacked by a ferocious monster, one slip of a mark and he accidently summons a demon into this world and comes under its power, not even realizing what it is, convinced it’s an angelic being that answered his prayers…I do feel for the man.

 

Hopefully we can get this dealt with in a way that somewhat preserves the poor man’s sanity.

 

Ironically Divya getting stung may be the only saving grace to that. The venom gave her powers, changed her…technically she is a supernatural, much like when a human is bitten and becomes a Vampire or Werewolf. Their mind transforms just as much as any physical change, morphing to be able to handle the supernatural knowledge.

 

Within the first few weeks of the transformation they produce a kind of chemical that affects those they come into contact with most…those closest to the newly changed person, altering their brain patterns as well, allowing them to process the supernatural without breaking.

 

He just might be able to handle this…”

 

Raphael sighed, shaking his head faintly,

 

“I don’t know. I hope so but as he’s being unknowingly manipulated, possibly controlled and who knows what else by a demon disguised as an angel into providing sacrifices, helping the demon crossover, AND basically opening the gates of hell…

 

That might be a bit much.

 

Compared to that being killed and clawing your way back out of your own grave sounds almost pleasant.”

 

Magnus gave a slight huffing not quite laugh,

 

“You are right about that my dear. We really need to find the spell he’s using a…

_Wait…_

 

The spell isn’t from this world…Raj knows nothing of what he’s doing, he’s just following the demons orders. The demon is from Calon tywyll, the spell must be from there as well!

 

A book from Calon tywyll…that has knowledge of the human world, the moon phases…seven sacrifices, six at the points one in the center…and the brands…they mention those strong, brave and pure of heart…Selfless people…those that would give their lives in protection of others.

 

All of that…

 

I can only think of one book that would pertain to all of it; The Cyfaint y gwacter.”

 

“And that means?”

 

“The Volume Of the Void.” He adds distractedly quickly making his way to the large table in the center of the room, snapping his fingers. A large, leather bound ancient looking book appearing on the table.

 

“Well, that doesn’t sound ominous as hell or anything…so the spells here?” he mutters, looking curiously at the huge volume…

 

“Please tell me there’s a table of contents or something and we don’t have to actually search through this page by page…it has to be over three thousand pages. We do not have that time, not if the markings mentioned the Harvest moon…that’s tonight.

 

We do not have days to peruse an ancient book.”

 

Magnus glanced over at him quirking his eyebrow

 

“Sweetheart, sometimes I think you forget just who you’re talking to.” He held his hand up, snapping his fingers the book flipping open, pages fluttering faster than even his eyes could follow, settling on a page about three hundred pages from the back, the worlds shimmering.

 

Raphael huffed out a laugh, shaking his head,

 

“No I don’t…I always remember who you are… the biggest show off in existence.”

 

Magnus chuckles,

 

“Now my dear it’s not showing off…it just seems like that because I am so very impressive.”

 

Raphael rolled his eyes,

 

“And so modest too…”

 

“I know...I really am the whole package.” He smirked, winking playfully, before turning back to the book,

 

“Hmm...

 

The ridica valul vraja.

 

The spell must be completed under the light of the Harvest moon when it is fully raised, as the first stars began to appear. The last sacrifice must be made at the center of the pentagram…the number six is a theme…the more surrounding the location the more powerful the spell will be.

 

Oh…”

 

Raphael tilted his head, leaning closer looking over the page, but it was irrelevant as he couldn’t read the language.

 

“What is it?” he asked, leaning in still out of habit,

 

Magnus shook his head, tapping the page,

 

“The first six sacrifices the victims are drained of their essences, their souls, whatever you want to call it. That is what the demon absorbs to gain its power, but when it’s done in these locations it has two uses. The power boosts the demon, getting it closer to crossing over, but it _also_ marks the victims as sacrifices for the spell to open Calon tywyll.

 

 The last one, though…the one in the center?

 

It’s an actual blood sacrifice. The victim must be brave, strong and pure of heart, a ‘selfless protector of the people’. Someone who would give their lives in the defense of others.”

 

Raphael swallowed, shaking his head,

 

“So…this demon is going to find probably the best person in the city and bleed them dry?

 

Magnus…we cannot let that happen.”

 

He nodded

 

“We really cannot. We need to see what has a theme of six in the center of the city.”

 

Raphael nodded rolling out the map, looking at the circle they’d drawn in the center of the pentagram. It covered about two square miles, and had, literally over a hundred locations in it…

 

_There had to be a way to narrow it down…_

_Maybe the c-_

 

He’s cut off by Magnus’s phone chiming. Magnus sighed, snapping his fingers, summoning it, looking over the number, tilting his head,

 

“Oh, it’s Simon…perhaps he’s found something that will help us narrow it down…” he trailed off, lifting it to his ear,

  

“Hello darling I-”

 

“Magnus no time. I think Alec’s in trouble. He called me and apologized and said that he’s been really off because of you and I know that’s not your fault and I’m sure there’s a really good reason you couldn’t tell him what you saw in the marks and I don’t even care what it is right now cause some guy named Raj called Alec and told him they have information on you and the case and how you’re involved in the case and I really don’t think you are cause If you were why would you be helping us at all so they’re lying only I think their lying about a hell of a lot more and I think it’s a trap and I don’t know what’s going on or what’s involved in this case but if they knew enough to know Alec was suspicious of you and angry about you then they had to have been watching him and if they are then they’re after him and it like **_just_** occurred to me this minute that Alec is, like exactly the same type as the victims and this all just seems way too much and I really don’t know what to do cause I think they got Alec a-and…

 

I-I…oh god Magnus I don’t know what to do and I’m freaking out cause the call was over an hour ago and he said he’d call when he left and let me know what he found out and he hasn’t and he thinks I was ignoring him cause he yelled at me and  _I_ ** _wasn’t_**  I totally wasn’t I just forgot to turn my phone back on...and…and….” he trailed off, breath fast and erratic, Raphael could hear his heart pounding over the phone

 

He’d moved to Magnus’s side the moment the man started talking, he could hear the fear in his voice, the terror,

 

_Oh man this was bad…Alec…_

 

_A ‘selfless protector of the people’ he couldn’t think of anyone that described better than the detective…_

 

Magnus was standing ramrod straight, eyes sharp, power flickering, sparking and surging, it kicked up the second Simon had mentioned Raj’s name…

 

Raphael almost felt the need to take a step back; he knew that look…it spoke of destruction and violence. That was the look that always reminded Raphael exactly who Magnus was, who his Father was.

 

It was a look that reminded him that, whatever else Magnus might be, he _was_ half demon…and when he needed to be he was more terrifying than any demon in this world.

 

Magnus took a deep breath, pulling his powers back a bit, trying to get himself under control. He tilted his head, shifting the phone,

 

“Simon sweetheart, calm down, breathe…it is okay…we have time…just breathe for a second, nothing’s going to happen for at least another hour…

 

It’s okay we have time…

 

Breathe sweetheart.” He said, voice, soft and soothing, oddly melodic.”

 

Raphael saw the power flicker, Magnus’s eyes shimmering softly, him making a few graceful gestures with his free hand. On the other end of the phone he could hear Simons breath evening out, heart rate slipping to a more normal pace.

 

“Are you better sweetheart?” Magnus asked softly,

 

“Y-yeah…I think so…thank you…an hour?” he asked, voice still not quite steady,

 

“Yes…I found out what is going on; it’s a spell…well…the person behind it believes it is a spell. I do believe they are quite deranged, seeing monsters and demons everywhere.

 

They need one more sacrifice for the spell, it would be at the center of the hexagram, and must be done under the harvest moon, when it is fully risen, that is not until between six thirty and seven tonight.

 

The sacrifice  _ **must**_  be made then or it will not work, not that it will anyways, but if they’re trying to follow the spell they will be following it step by step.

 

Did Alec mention where he was meeting Raj?”

 

“Y-yeah, at the old Brentwood Manufacturing building.”

 

Raphael’s eyes widened, nodding quickly, Magnus inhaled sharply meeting his eyes, nodding back,

 

“Six stories, right in the center of Brooklyn.”

 

“Right in the center of the Hexagram.” Simon added hollowly,

 

_God, he never wanted to hear that hopeless tone in the guys voice, Simon should never sound hopeless…_

 

_**Never…** _

 

Okay, they need to go get this demon and this Raj-and he feels for the guy, _he does_ , but if he won’t stay out of the way he’ll go right through him-he’s made plenty of hard decisions in his lifetime…what’s one more?

 

“I know darling. We have time…we’ll get him back…” Magnus began, trailing off, voice rather unsure, looking over at Raphael not sure how to explain to the younger detective,

 

He shrugged rather at a loss himself,

 

Magnus huffed faintly, turning back to the conversation,

 

Umm…I…t-”

 

“Magnus, let’s not do this…I’m not Alec…I know you were lying about not recognizing the marks, I know you probably know a hell of a lot more about this than I do, hell than I ever will…

 

I don’t know what you’re into, what you’re capable of or anything else, but I know you’re not just a club owner…Alec’s not the only one that can pick up on things.

 

But right now I don’t care. I don’t care how dangerous you are or what you do or how you do it or whatever else.

 

My partner is in trouble, someone wants to sacrifice him to a demon…

 

I do not care what has to happen or HOW it has to happen to prevent that…it just needs to happen.

 

I’m leaving the precinct now but it’s over a twenty minute drive and that’s without traffic, I’m hoping you’re closer. I’ll get there when I can, if you get there first don’t bother waiting for me, just get my partner out.

 

I don’t care about anything else right now. I just want my partner alive and safe…nothing else matters.

 

Just protect Alec.”

 

Raphael stared wide eyed,

 

_Wow… who knew the cute, sweet, adorable detective could reach **that** level of forcefulness?_

_Okay not gonna lie…it was kind of exhilarating…_

_Not really the right time for that…_

_But still…_

_Woah…_

Magnus tilted his head, eyes flashing bright, a sharp, deadly smile gracing his lips. He made a soft, odd sound, almost a purring, growling thing…

 

_Uh oh… Raphael knew that sound…_

_This demon stood all the chances of a snowball in hell…_

 

He couldn’t quite tramp down a bit of a reckless thrill, it was a hunt. He was civilized, had control of his baser instincts, more so then most actually…but still, he was a Vampire, a predator…

 

_And this was a **hunt** …_

 

He looked up meeting Magnus’s eyes, he saw he had the same buzzing thrill, he tilted his head, power flickering, eyes flashing,

 

 “That, my dear is an order I am more than willing to take.”

 

“Thank you Magnus.” Simon said relieved,

 

Magnus got  _ **that**_  smile, the one that always seemed like it should be accompanied by lightning or thunder, a look that could make the bravest, strongest, stupidest creatures turn tale and run for the hills,

 

“Of course dear…I just met Alexander, I am in no way ready to say good bye…If this Raj so much as harms one hair on his head…

 

Mmm…

 

He is going to need a hell of a lot more than a demon for protection.” He clicked the button, disconnecting the call, putting the phone back in his pocket,

 

Waving his hand, power surging up, filling the room, crackling and snapping. The shimmering violet portal opened, Magnus turned to him, quirking his eyebrow in that reckless, deadly way, giving  _that_  smile,

 

Raphael returned the look, giving a sharp nod, leaping through the portal, Magnus close behind, giving a reckless, terrifying laugh.

 

_Oh…that poor demon…_

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#  _ Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec _

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_Ugh what the hell?_

_How much did he have last night?_

Alec groaned faintly, his head was pounding and he felt kind of stiff.

_Man, what a crazy dream...D-did he fall asleep sitting up?_

That's odd, he never did that. He tried shifting, but froze when he felt resistance. Okay, something most definitely wasn't right, the alarms began going, overshadowing the throbbing in his head...

 

He subtly tries moving his arms only to once again encounter resistance. He tries taking stock; something’s around his wrists, over his shoulders and chest, and about his ankles...

 

_It's almost like he's..._

_Oh crap..._

_It wasn't a dream._

Memories of the day come flooding back; meeting Magnus this morning, going to Izzy’s, her warning, the oddness of Magnus with the body, realizing he lied, his anger, blowing up at him, then Simon...

 

The call, going to meet this Raj, the red flags...He lied about knowing about Magnus... he knew nothing about the guy, not even his name...

 

Realizing it was a trap, that...that this Raj was disturbed...was likely the killer...or at least one of them...pulling his gun...

 

The guy'd been nervous, eyes wide, began to raise his hands...

 

_T-then...what?_

He remembers a sudden jarring sensation, pain, and then everything went dark.

 

Hesitantly he blinked his eyes open, feeling a faint wave of dizziness wash over him, vision swimming…

 

_Oookay…_

So...he’s been lured into a trap by whoever is behind the branding murders…he’s tied to a chair…and he probably has a concussion…

 

And thanks to losing his temper and yelling at Simon he probably hasn’t even listened to his message, almost certainly thinking he just called to yell at him some more…

 

Which means he probably won’t even listen to it until someone realizes he’s missing…

 

_And **that’s** if he didn’t just flat out delete it…_

 

In which case no one knows where he is or who he was meeting and he is totally on his own…

 

Likely concussed, bound, and pretty much out of options.

 

_Yeah…t-this…_

_This is really bad…_

**_Damn it!_ **

 

How could he be so stupid, agreeing to meet with some shady stranger at an abandoned building without even giving it a second thought? Yeah, he was pissed at Magnus but this was a major lapse in judgment.

 

How c-

 

_Okay, you know what? He can berate himself about his stupidity later…assuming he HAS a later…_

He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself, once more trying to open his eyes. His vision blurred, and spun for a second, he just tried to breathe through it, swallowing back the faint wave of queasiness…

 

_Yeah, definite concussion_

_Also can wait till later…focus on the biggest problem first._

_Tied to a chair by a deranged murderer._

He took a few more deep breaths until his vision steadied and cleared, slowly looking around, trying to get some idea of his surroundings, and almost wished he hadn’t.

 

He’s in the very center of a bare room, some kind of open space, probably an office of some kind at one point but anything that had been in it had long since been cleared out. The walls were high and exposed, dingy red brick. A rather large window sets dead center in the wall he’s facing, at the very corner of it he can just make out a small part of an angel statue…so he’s on the very top floor of the building. Out the window he can see the sun is setting, the bright orange giving way to violet fading to blue, the lights of the city flickering on as the natural light fades.

 

It’d be quite a breathtaking view in most other circumstances, but something about it sets him on edge. The floors are hardwood, a light, sun bleached color. It stands out in stark contrast to the bold, harsh black and red marks. The same marks as the brands on the bodies.

 

The room has the faint smell of wood smoke and something unidentifiable that sets his teeth on edge and sends a shiver down his spine. Whatever created the brands on the bodies was also used to sear the marks into the wooden floor…only there were so many more than on the bodies. There are **_hundreds_** of them, covering almost every last bit of the floorboards, flowing, ebbing and swirling together in some bizarre, concentric, sinuous pattern that is simultaneously strangely beautiful and bone chillingly terrifying.

 

The sigils- he realizes that’s what they are, much like the summoning sigils and the enchantment runes- seem to go from nearly a foot in length around the outer edge of the room becoming smaller the closer they got to him, the closest to him appearing maybe two inches at most. They all seem to flow into the thick, black line about six feet around him. As he’s bound he can only see about half of it, but he knows exactly what it is…

 

He’s seen them repeating in this case again and again.

 

The chair he’s in is situated exactly in the center of the hexagram, the point in front of him perfectly aligned with the window.

 

#  _Ooohhh…_

 

T-this…

 

Yeah…he’s…

 

_Oh god damn it, he’d gonna be sacrificed by some madman trying to summon a demon._

Alright…he’s a detective…his job is dangerous…he’s always known there was a possibility he could lose his life on the job; from a stray bullet, a dangerous perp, even an accident during a case…

 

_But…_

_Gotta admit…_

_He did not see ‘demon sacrifice’ as a possibility._

He moved, struggling against the binds frantically, trying to get some kind of slack in them.

 

“Oh…you’re awake…” A soft voice said from behind him,

 

He startled, jerking around, trying to see,

 

“ _Raj?!_ What the hell do you think you’re doing? You kidnapped a Detective, do you have any idea how much trouble you’re gonna get for this? You will have every cop in the city gunning for you- have a target on your back for the rest of your life…

 

You will never get away with this-”

 

“ _I know! I don’t want to do this_ …I never wanted any of this…I never wanted to hurt anyone, I HATE this, it makes me sick…but there’s no other way…it’s the only way…

 

I don’t have a choice…” he gave a shuttering whimper…

 

“I don’t want to do this…” he said again voice so sad, near broken…

 

Alec shook his head, trying to turn, to get a visual…

 

“Then don’t…just stop; stop trying to summon whatever demon y-”

 

“Demon! I-I’m not trying to summon a demon, I don’t want to bring more evil into this world… _the demons are already **here**_ …I’m trying to send them away…”

 

_Huh?_

“Raj…no you’re not…you’re using summoning sigils. A friend told m-”

 

“ _The **monster** told you that_…I saw you guys…saw him find the marks…no one was supposed to be able to find the marks…the angel said they couldn’t, that they were masked but he did…how did he find them?

 

The monsters aren’t supposed to be able to find them…how did he?”

 

_Umm…what?_

_He’s the one with the concussion…shouldn’t he be spouting nonsense?_

“Raj…w-what are you talking about?”

 

“The monster you’re working with! Who’s helping you with the case, the terrifying one with the scary eyes and power! How did he find the Angels mark when none of the other monsters could find them?!” he demanded, coming around to face Alec,

 

His eyes were wide and agitated, hair mussed as if he’d been raking his fingers through it, he was buzzing with nervous energy, but what drew Alec’s attention more than any of that was the viciously sharp obsidian blade clutched in his erratically gesturing hand.

 

Alec swallowed, trying to steady himself,

 

“I-I don’t know how he did…” Alec said quietly, looking up, meeting his eyes,

 

“I don’t know about him…r-remember? That’s why I wanted to meet you, to find out more…he seems really suspicious…really dangerous…”

 

Raj scoffed, shaking his head quickly,

 

“Oh you have no idea…”

 

Alec nodded trying to maintain eye contact, to establish a connection with him.

 

“Then tell me, what is he?” he asked softly

 

Raj blinked, gesturing erratically, the knife waving about,

 

“I TOLD you he’s a monster! He’s a monster…I know you can’t see them, humans can’t, I couldn’t- it was much better when I couldn’t but now I can and they’re everywhere…everywhere! They hide among us and they look like normal people, they look like us, but they’re not…they’re monsters…

 

Monsters with fangs, and claws, and terrifying glowing eyes and powers a-and god knows what else and their everywhere…there’s SO many, we’re surrounded, we’re always surrounded, but we don’t know it…

 

_But I do…_

 

I do and I can fix it…

 

The angel said I could…

 

That I’m the only one who can; can make them safe, make her safe…

 

_I don’t want to do it… **I don’t…**_

 

I wish there was another way…but there’s not and t-they have to be stopped, they have to…it’s the only way…The only way to stop them…to protect all the humans. I’m sorry, I really am…I told the others I didn’t want to…I didn’t want them to be hurt…

 

I just want to be safe…want everyone safe…

 

Want my sister safe…

 

B-but that can’t happen. Not with the creatures around. They have to be vanquished…” he paused, looking up meeting Alec’s eyes, gaze so very remorseful, utterly tortured, desperate.

 

He shook his head, grip on the blade shaking,

 

“I-I don’t want to do it…but it’s the only way.” He stepped closer, shakily raising the blade,

 

“WAIT-wait…no, Raj, please…just wait…don’t do this.” He pleaded,

 

Raj startled, shaking his head, whimpering, taking a shuddering breath,

 

“I have to! I’m sorry, I’m SO sorry! I wish there was another way, I really, really do. B-but there’s not…

 

It’s the only way…

 

The Angel said.”

 

Alec shook his head quickly, swallowing. Thinking, trying to buy time, hoping against hope that Simon got his message.

 

“ _What Angel?_ Raj you need to explain what’s happening to me. If you’re going to murder me I at least deserve to know why. I’ve never hurt you; I’ve never done anything to hurt anyone; WHY are you doing this to me?

 

Those other people you killed? They didn’t deserve it, none of them. They were good, kind, compassionate, caring people. They went out of their way to help and protect others.

 

They had families, friends, loved ones; you destroyed so many lives…

 

If you’re gonna do the same thing to me I damn well deserve to know why, you owe me that much.”

 

Raj blinked, shaking his head quickly, eyes wide,

 

“ _I-I didn’t_ …I didn’t kill them…t-the angel needed them…needed their energy for the spell…to protect humanity. H-he said they were good, that they were protectors…that they would give their lives for others, to protect others…

 

T-that if they knew…that their sacrifices would save humanity…

 

That they would understand…

 

They would want to protect their families, their loved ones. T-their sacrifices were necessary for the survival of humanity.

 

It’s seven lives for the guaranteed survival of the entire human race…

 

I-it is the only way…

 

t-the only way…” he trailed off, swallowing, again stepping towards Alec,

 

“ _What ‘Angel’ Raj?_ You keep saying the angel told you all this…

 

What Angel? Why do you think an angel is telling you to do these things?”

 

“B-because I called it…I…” he sniffed, shaking his head, crossing his arms over himself,

 

“I…my sister was attacked and…and a bunch of weird things started to happen and t-the thing that attacked her…i-it shouldn’t exist…and I…all I wanted to do is help her…to make it better…I’m the big brother…I’m supposed to be able to do that.

 

O-only…I…I don’t know about any of this stuff and I didn’t understand it…a-and I got to thinking that if that thing that attacked her existed then maybe other things do too…and…and I thought maybe an angel could fix it…and I tried praying but that didn’t seem to fix anything and everyone does that and so I started to research…I’ve always been really good at that…and I came across the Enochian…and I thought maybe I could call one that way.

 

I never thought it would work but I tried it one night, I drew the symbol from the book and…

 

And there was an amazing light and a shimmering being appeared and said that they were here to help me. It worked…

 

It did…

 

And I explained about Divya and what happened and it sighed and shook its head and said that the thing that attacked her was a monster…that our world was infested with them, they were everywhere, hiding in plain sight.

 

That humans couldn’t see them, just saw them as another normal person. I-it seemed crazy, and I didn’t really want to believe it, but i-it did something…some flash thing, and touched my forehead and then…I don’t know…

 

My eyes burned for a minute and I felt dizzy and sick and fuzzy and then it all seemed to go back to normal, but it wasn’t. I-I look at a group of people and I can see the creatures now…and…

 

 ** _God_** …it was right.

 

They’re everywhere…there’s SO many of them, on the street, in the media, in our government, at your precinct.

 

EVERYWHERE…They are everywhere, and we don’t stand a chance.” He paused, shaking his head,

 

“Alec…I…god, you have no idea how much I wish there was another way. I asked him, begged him to find another way. But there isn’t. I’m sorry, but it’s the only way to protect everyone…

 

The only way for me to make sure Divya is okay. I hate it so much, but it has to be fixed.

 

I really hope you understand.” He said softly, beginning forward yet again,

 

Alec inhaled, nodding quickly, thinking he did have an idea what was going on here…

 

_The angel thing seemed less sad…_

“I do.

 

I think you’re delusional.”

 

Raj shook his head quickly,

 

“I’m NOT crazy! I-”

 

Alec sighed,

 

He hated having to point this out…if something was so bad that someone would make up this crazy story to distance themselves from it it had to be something pretty horrible…

 

He didn’t think an Angel was behind it…but he didn’t think this Raj was working alone either. Someone was manipulating this poor broken man into helping them in the murders…

 

This ‘Angel’ was the one they needed to catch…He just needed more information.

 

But for that he needed to get Raj to face the truth, no matter how painful it may be.

 

“Raj…I’m not saying you are. I think something happened to your sister- maybe something really, _really_ bad- and I think you had a mental break because you couldn’t fix it.

 

I think you came up with this Angel delusion as a way to fix something that cannot be fixed. I think someone found out about it and is using it- using your pain and fear- to manipulate you into helping with the murders.

 

I am sorry Raj…I really am. I can’t imagine what I’d do if something happened to one of my siblings…I’d probably be in the same boat.

 

But Raj? Really think about what you’re saying; an Angel is making you murder people in an effort to save humanity.

 

Just take a step back, and think;

 

What seems more plausible?

 

A divine being using hexagrams, spells, sigils, and human sacrifices to ‘protect humanity’.

 

Or,

 

You had a mental break because something in your life was too painful to deal with so you had to find a way to cope, and some corrupt bastard saw that and decided to use your pain for their own benefit?

 

I believe you didn’t murder any of the others…so why now? Why have you kill a cop?

 

I think this was some twisted game by some psychopath that latched onto your delusion to pin their crimes on you…to set you up for seven murders.

 

Honestly, which seems more real?”

 

Raj swallowed, shaking his head,

 

“I-I…but…that’s not…it’s real…”

 

Alec sighed, looking up, meeting the man’s eyes, seeing the flicker of doubt,

 

“Please Raj…just put the knife down…

 

Just put it down…let me go…

 

w-we’ll get this sorted out…”

 

He blinked, taking a shuttering breath,

 

“W-we?”

 

Alec nodded

 

“Yes Raj. I’ll help you however I can. I don’t think you’re a bad person; I think you’re hurt, and you’re scared and someone took advantage of that.

 

Please Raj?

 

I know you don’t want to do this…

 

And you don’t have to…

 

We can fix this.

 

Okay?”

 

Raj took a deep shuttering breath, giving a shaky nod

 

“A-alrig-”

 

“ _Oh_ …you’re good detective…” an odd, disembodied voice sounded, seemingly from everywhere.

 

The symbols begin to shimmer, an odd, black and blood orange vapor rising from them, condensing, seemingly solidifying, taking on a vaguely humanoid shape, before slowly dissipating. In the place there stood a curious, handsome, ethereally shimmering figure.

 

Alec gasped, blinking…

 

_Oookay…so…_

**_How_ ** _hard did he hit his head earlier?_

Raj looks over at Alec eyes wide,

 

“Y-you see it too right? You see him now?”

 

Alec nodded, shakily

 

“Y-yeah, Raj…I see him.”

 

“So I’m not delusional…it’s real i-…

 

It’s all real.” He trails off, glancing down at the blade in his hand, lightly running his thumb over the handle,

 

“I was really, really hoping it wasn’t…” he said softly, looking back up at Alec, eyes full of pain,

 

“I really don’t want to do it…” he said, pleadingly meeting Alec’s eyes,

 

Alec took a deep breath, shaking his head

 

“Then don’t Raj. Don’t do it.”

 

Raj shook his head

 

“But t-”

 

“Raj I know what you said…what that thing said…I do…but you do not have to do anything you don’t want to. Don’t listen to it. Listen to yourself, your instincts…

 

You’re a good person Raj; you don’t want to hurt anyone…

 

As of yet you haven’t.

 

Please Raj…you’re stronger than that thing.

 

I know you are.”

 

The angel chuckled, shaking its head, an odd indescribable something passing behind those ice blue eyes that sent a chill down Alec’s spin, before looking over to Raj, expression becoming compassionate,

 

“Raj, he’s trying to confuse you…he is frightened, it’s more than understandable. He can’t see them…he doesn’t know…not really…if he understood, if he really understood, he would do it-

 

Give his life to protect humanity.”

 

Alec took a deep breath, looking at Raj

 

“He’s right, I would, but Raj? This? Something’s really off here…I don’t know what’s going on, or what that thing is…but this isn’t right,

 

And deep down you know it too.

 

Please Raj?

 

Don’t do this…You are stronger than this…I know you are. You’re better than this.”

 

Raj seemed to hesitate again, more doubt appearing,

 

Alec ran at it,

 

“And think about it…whatever happens here, you’re abandoning Divya. What’s she going to do without you? You murder a cop, you’re either going to prison for life or getting the death penalty.

 

Do you really want to put her through that? Her spending the rest of her life thinking her brother was a psychotic murderer?

 

Because Raj, you do this? That is ALL people will remember you for…that’s all they’ll see _her_ as, the sister of a murderer…

 

She’ll never live it down…

 

Do you really want to do that to her?”

 

A flicker of anger flashed over the Angels expression, a brief glare that sent terror through Alec like he’d never felt.

 

“Raj that will not happen…you will be a hero…a savior of humanity. Divya will be proud. She will be cured and happy and know that her brother singlehandedly saved humanity.”

 

Raj looked back at Alec clearly having doubts,

 

“Will she though? Raj I don’t know Divya- neither does he, _you_ do. How do you think she’d feel about you murdering someone…someone bound and utterly helpless?

 

How will your baby sister feel knowing her brother killed someone in cold blood? Do you really think she’d be proud of that, regardless of what came from it?”

 

He shook his head, lowering the knife, looking hesitantly over at the angel,

 

“She would be ashamed…disgusted…she would not want this.”

 

“She does not have a choice.” The angel said sharply, voice at a near hiss, before pulling back,

 

“Raj you are being selfish…this is not just about you…it is not just about your sister…it is about all of humanity. If you do not do this you are dooming humanity.”

 

Alec shook his head

 

“Raj d-”

 

The Angel made a faint growling sound, icy cold eyes fixing on him with a hateful glare,

 

“That’s enough out of you.” it snapped, reaching forward, hand going right for his throat, seemingly encompassing his entire neck.

 

The angel gave a pained, shocked scream, ripping its hand away, skin smoking and sizzling, and oddly familiar symbol blistered on its palm.

 

_Oh…thank you Clary…_

_He is never taking this necklace off…_

 

“W-what happened? What was that?” Raj asked, eyes wide, looking from the angel to Alec and back.

 

The angel glared, giving that growling noise again,

 

“He’s working with the creatures; they’re trying to protect him…they gave him a charm to protect him from angelic powers…

 

You must do it Raj,

 

I cannot…

 

It’s all up to you Raj.

 

You have to kill him Raj… ** _now_** …if they have safeguarded him they’re probably watching him. They’ll be on their way.

 

You have to do it Raj. In order to defeat the monsters you have to kill him. And you have to do it soon.

 

Do it Raj.”

 

Alec shook his head,

 

“No Raj, don’t.”

#  __

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Dun, dun, dun…_
> 
> _So…who will Raj listen to?_
> 
> _(By the way in this scene I kinda see Alec like the angel on your shoulder and the ‘angel’ and the devil on the other…I don’t know why I find that so very entertaining, but I really do._
> 
>  
> 
> Awydd barus = Greedy-Desire
> 
> ridica valul vraja= Lift the Veil Spell
> 
>  
> 
> **_ Random Thing- _ **
> 
> Werewolves are actually different than other shifters…
> 
> Being a werewolf is transferred via bite, like…well…any other mythology involved with them.
> 
> Shifters are BORN with the ability to transform into their animal counterpart-
> 
> There ARE Wolf Shifters, (Blaidd-ddyn) but they’re actually different from Werewolves…I’m thinking their might even be a bit of animosity or prejudice between the groups.
> 
> ****
> 
>  


	11. A Nightmare Disguised As A Day Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> _Magnus to the Rescue!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes:
> 
> _So…I was totally planning on making you guys wait an entire day…or at least a few hours after posting the last half of 10 but…oh well…_
> 
> _I can’t wait…_
> 
> _Hope you all enjoy this as much as I do_

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#  _ Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

_Okay…this had to be a dream…a hallucination…some kind of side effect from being thrown into the door…_

_That was the only explanation…_

_That HAD to be the truth…_

_Because if it **wasn’t** then his reality has just been turned on its head._

There is a scared ranting man arguing with a shimmering ‘angel’ that appeared in a cloud of smoke from the sigils on the floor that was currently trying to convince him to kill Alec. Telling him he has to sacrifice Alec, that it was the only way to save humanity.

 

_On the plus side his Magic protection Necklace seems to work…_

 

_At least against the Angel…_

He had a feeling it wouldn’t be quite as effective against the obsidian blade Raj was holding. Alec shot another nervous look at the blade, before looking back up at him, meeting the Man’s eyes, trying desperately to get through.

 

“B-but I thought you already said I had to be the one to kill him?” Raj asked looking at the Angel in confusion

 

The angel shrugged

 

“Without the interference of the monsters I could have helped you, had you been incapable of doing it yourself, but now that is not an option…it is all you.

 

The entirety of humanity depends on you.”

 

Alec shook his head quickly,

 

 “Raj, please, don’t do this. I don’t know what’s going on here, but please, just stop, you don’t want to do this, you’re a good person…you _are_. It’s lying to you, please don’t do this…”

 

The angel shook its head, looking over at Raj,

 

“It is the only way…the only way to protect your world, to save humanity…to save your _sister_ …

 

It is her only chance.”

 

Raj’s swallowed nervously, he took a deep, shuttering breath, grip on the blade tightening, stepping hesitantly towards Alec,

 

Alec shook his head quickly,

 

“Raj stop…please, I don’t know what’s going on, but I understand you wanting to protect your family…I do. I have a sister too- Izzy, and two brothers, Max and Jace…

 

I’m the oldest, the big brother, I get it- I do. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for them, and honestly, if what he’s saying was true, if my death would protect all of them-would protect everyone, then i-it wouldn’t even be a question, okay?

 

But I- this isn’t right.”

 

Raj shook his head, erratically waving the blade around,

 

“No you don’t understand… _I told you they’re everywhere!_ Monsters, terrifying creatures, they’re hiding amongst us. Hiding in plain sight, we don’t see them, we just see them as normal people- but they’re not; they’re there and they’re just lying in wait, they could strike at any time.  There’s SO many, we are surrounded, all the time, everywhere. We have to stop them before it’s too late…we have to.”

 

Alec shook his head, grasping desperately at another tactic…

 

“Raj I-I believe you…I mean I just saw that guy appear in a cloud of smoke…I believe it, okay? But think, _really_ think…you said it yourself, they’re living amongst us…but have you seen any of them do anything to hurt anyone? Anything?

 

I work as a cop; the only bizarre, unexplained murders I’ve seen are the ones during this case. I haven’t seen anything that would be a ‘monster’ attack…

 

Meanwhile the ‘Angel’ has been murdering innocent people-”

 

“ _But they **have** hurt someone!_ Divya was stung by some giant horrible bug like thing- it tried to EAT her, she just barely managed to fight it off, a piece of one of the old support beams of the Keas bridge was really loose and she managed to knock it over onto the thing, crushing it.

 

She could have died because of that thing…a-and now she’s seeing things that aren’t supposed to be- seeing THEM- and when she gets mad things move and burst into flames and _I-I don’t know how to fix that_ \- the Angel does. He said the only way is to finish the spell, to vanquish the things, send them away…I just want my sister to be safe…I want everyone to be safe.”

 

Alec swallowed nodding,

 

“I get that Raj, I do- like I said- I’m a big brother too, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for them…nothing.

 

But Raj really _think_ about this. You said you see them everywhere but they’re just going about their lives, they’re not hurting anyone. The thing that attacked your sister? That sounds like an animal. M-maybe this is the only way the _angel_ knows to fix your sister…but maybe one of the other things co-”

 

He shook his head fearfully,

_“I’m not trusting one of these creatures with my sister!”_

 

“W-”

 

Whatever Alec was going to say was cut off by a thunderous crash, the door of the room exploding off the hinges, flying across the room, slamming into the other wall, splintering into pieces.

 

“I think I should be insulted.” A now familiar voice sounded, Magnus slinking into the room, Raphael close behind,

 

 The angel whirled in surprise, facing the door, before also flying back, slamming into the wall, crumpling on the remains of the door.

 

It scrambled back up, shaking its head,

 

“What w-” it begun before its voice went silent, mouth moving clearly still talking but they couldn’t hear.

 

 It contorted, arms slamming flush against its body, standing bizarrely straight. Its eyes blinked in surprise, seemingly struggling against some unseen force,

 

Magnus smirked, eyes bright, that sparking, thrilling thing that sent Alec’s heart racing once more flaring up, tilting his head,

 

“I think you’ve had more than enough time for your say…it’s someone else’s turn.”

 

He shifted, gaze quickly flickering over Alec, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“You alright, gorgeous?”

 

Alec gave a slow nod, eyes wide, not really sure what’s going on…but as he was pretty sure they weren’t here to kill him, and as **_they_** \- _unlike Alec_ \- actually seemed to have some idea what the hell was going on, he was kinda good with it.

 

Magnus nodded in return, turning his focus over to Raj, gaze going sharp.

 

“Now as for you…”

 

Raj scrambled back, eyes wide and fearful, looking from Magnus over to Raphael in mounting terror, pointing frantically, the blade trembling in his hand,

 

“Y-you see them…t-they’re monsters! Glowing eyes and power a-and that one- the fangs! You don’t see it but I do! _I do_ …and it’s the only way to stop them…the only way-”

 

Magnus’s eyes widened in surprise…

 

“Ah…that’s how he convinced you. We could not think of what he used. At first we assumed he told you it was the only way to save Divya, but it’s more, yes?

 

He didn’t just tell you you were saving your sister- he told you you were saving all of humanity…”

 

Raj swallowed, stilling, grip on the blade steadying,

 

“How do you know my sister’s name?”

 

Magnus sighed,

 

“I used a spell, I saw what happened, why you were so desperate- I know she is all you have, has been since your parents died six years ago, all you want is just to make her safe, to protect her. That is what started all of this.”

 

He shook his head eyes wide,

 

“H-how d-”

 

“I told you, it’s a spell. I saw everything, I know what happened to Divya, what’s happening with her right now. The sting, how panicked she’s been for the last month, The pyrokenisis, the Telekinesis, _I **know**_.

 

The creature- it’s called an rhwystro tân, I can tell you all about it- tell both of you, I can help her.

 

But if you do this none of that will matter; what you are doing will not vanquish us…it will release horrors beyond your imagination…

 

It’s lying to you- Manipulating you…it’s not an angel, it’s a demon.”

 

_Seriously, how hard did he hit his head?_

_Okay…so…he must admit demon sounds more like what the strange shimmering being is doing than an angel…still…_

Raj shook his head frantically,

 

“N-no it’s not, you’re lying! I used Enochian, the Angel language…it has to be an angel… ** _look_** _at it!”_

 

Raphael gave a disbelieving scoffing laugh, raising his eyebrow,

 

“Umm… either we’re seeing something very different or My Catechism classes were vastly lacking…I know it’s been quite a while, but I think I’d remember _that_.”

 

Magnus nodded, tilting his head,

 

“No you didn’t- what you used, the symbol it’s in an ancient demonic language, it’s very similar to Enochian but comes from a much darker place. What you are seeing is not real, it’s an illusion, called a glamour- it’s how supernatural beings can move around in the human world. He made it so you could see through it in other’s but not his…” he trailed off, eyes going wide,

 

“W-Wait- he can’t hide completely…you can see it- but you don’t want to…your brain doesn’t want to process it.

 

That's why you never look at him for too long.”

 

Raj shook his head,

 

“What? That's n-”

 

Magnus persisted,

 

“No think about it! He's supposed to be an angel- a celestial figure, something humans have posited about for over two thousand years, yet you never look at him but briefly, before that niggling little feeling comes up and you look away. It's part of the spell!

 

Do it now- look at him; REALLY look, don't look away, no matter what that little thing says, you can see the truth... humans can see when they really want to, when it is key to their survival.” 

 

Something clicks,

 

Alec gasps, suddenly realizing he'd been doing the same thing,

 

 He’d been in the room with the so called ‘angel’ for nearly two hours and he hasn't really looked at the being for much of any time. He thought of the feeling of dread he got from the thing...realizing it's not just fear of the fact that this thing wants him dead- that it’s trying to convince a man to kill him...

 

It's something else.

 

“Raj how do you feel around the angel?”

 

Magnus, Raphael and Raj all looked at him in surprise,

 

”W-What?”

 

He looked up at the other man, meeting his eyes.

 

“How do you feel around him? Is it a calming presence like you’re in the company of something greater than yourself, or is it fear? That odd, sharp feeling that something just isn't adding up. That you're missing something.

 

Think about it Raj…REALLY think about it.

 

He appears in a cloud of black and red smoke after you summon him with a hexagram in order to attain a sacrifice...

 

He's made you lure six good, innocent people to their deaths. You have to be under his influence. I know you didn’t want to do all this, you wanted no part of it. I can see that you’re a good person. But you can't turn a blind eye to this; you can't pretend it's anything other than what it is. 

 

If you do this you are a murderer, that’s it.

 

You said the sacrifices are to save humanity- that's what it's told you, but really _think_ about it; you are using human sacrifice, hexagrams, mind controlling runes and innocent blood... does _any_ part of that feel angelic?

 

He is trying to make you kill me- murder me in cold blood, while I'm strapped to a chair, totally helpless. If you do this you will be living with that for the rest of your life.

 

Can you really live with that? Knowing you murdered someone in cold blood; slit their throat while they were sitting tied to a chair, helpless?

 

Do you really think you can live with that?”

 

Raphael shook his head, stepping forward, looking up, meeting Raj's eyes, a far off sadness to his expression, 

 

“You will never recover from it Raj. Spilling innocent blood... it changes you, haunts you. You will not get over it; you will see their faces nearly every time you close your eyes.

 

It never goes away...not entirely...even over a century later; it will still get to you. If you do this you will never again have peace.”

 

Magnus glanced over at the man, eyes softening, nodding faintly,

 

“He is right Raj, when this is over you will have to live with what you have done. How will you face Divya? How will you tell her that because of her you were complacent in the murder of six people- that you _yourself_ murdered a good, kind, honest, brave man?

 

That you slit his throat while he was helpless? How are you going to tell your baby sister-your only family- what you did? Do you really think she’d ever be able to look at you the same way again?

 

Will you be able to?”

 

Raj swallowed, shaking his head

 

“I-but I'm not... I'm protecting humanity.”

 

Alec shook his head,

 

“No you're not- you're condemning it. I don't know what this will do but it's not going to 'save humanity'.”

 

Magnus nodded-

 

“He's tricking you into reopening the gates of hell, into letting all the beings, monsters and creatures that this world has been protected from for millennia back in. If you do this, complete the ritual, you will be releasing hell on earth.

 

You can stop it right now. We can open the door, bind him and throw him back over, keep him from ever crossing over again. Use the same spell as when you first called it, but the door needs your blood for the returning spell to work, anyone else’s will open the door from _that_ side, allowing the beings on that side in. You started it; you brought the demon into this world-

 

I know that was not your intention, you just wanted to help Divya- and I **_can_** \- I can do that, I can help her- but right now you need to clean up the mess you made. You summoned the demon; it’s now bound to you, your blood is the only thing that will work. Just a few drops in the hexagram and we can break his hold on you and send him back.” 

 

Raj's eyes widened, he shook his head quickly, 

 

“Why would I believe that? For all I know you're trying to do exactly what you said he was!”

 

Alec shook his head, 

 

“Raj- he's not the one forcing you to murder someone, he’s not the one who started this or murdered six innocent people. Don't take his word for it- just try what he said- LOOK at it, don't look away... think about everything you really know about that thing over there- everything you've seen, everything it's done, everything that just does not add up.

 

I don't care what the circumstances; an angel would not do that.

 

None of that is angelic...it's the total opposite. And yet **_none_** of that seems to register to you as a disconnect. That in and of itself says you are not thinking clearly; that that thing over there is influencing you.

 

Try what he said- look at it, REALLY focus, try to see all the things you've unconsciously been avoiding noticing...try it Raj.”

 

Magnus gasped, a strange flickering something to his eyes, raising his hand, making a few quick intricate gestures toward the angry, struggling '-angel'.

 

“And if you can try it rather _quickly_ \- I cannot hold it much longer.” He breathed, voice rather strained,

 

He turned, both hands going up, Alec felt that odd prickly feeling on his skin intensifying, like the air was buzzing with something, he didn't know what-or maybe he did and that was just one step too far into the crazy...

 

He shifted his gaze from Magnus's back, over to the seemingly restrained 'angel', Taking a deep breath, focusing on the strange, faintly shimmering being, trying to focus the way Magnus said.  He felt that little buzzing something in the back of his head; that little voice saying to stop, but he didn't, no matter how much everything in him was compelling him to look away.

 

He focused, staring intently, purposefully taking in every detail, the figure seemed to shimmer brighter, nearly enough to make him close his eyes, but still he persisted. The shimmer began to fade, the figure within taking on a very different form. 

 

Alec swallowed, blinking frantically, trying to get his vision to go back to what he saw before.

 

It didn't work.

 

In place of the ethereal, shimmering handsome being their stood a very tall abnormally thin figure with unnaturally long limbs complete with extremely large hands and fingers that seemed much longer than normal with far too many joints tipped with wicked looking, razor sharp, two inch long talons.

 

The beings skin was leathery looking, almost pebbled, and nearly the same color as the corpses of the victims. Large blood orange eyes that glowed like hellfire against the impossibly black edges, the pupils a brilliant white void and reptilian in shape took up most of the top half of its face. It tilted its head, disconcerting gaze zeroing in on Alec, meeting his eyes, giving a terrifying smile, face nearly splitting in half with the goulash grin revealing an impossibly wide mouth and multiple rows of vicious needle sharp, teeth.

 

Alec blinked again several times, really wishing he could go back to just seeing the glamour thing.

 

“Uhh...M-Magnus? Is there a way to go back to just seeing the glamour? Cause I kinda really want to right now.”

 

“Umm…y-yes…there’s a reversal spell, but you have to wait…I’m a bit busy at the moment.” Magnus tossed over his shoulder, all his attention on maintaining whatever hold he had on the demon…

 

_W-wait…_

_How the hell was he holding back a **demon?**_

_‘You can see US…’_

_Raj’s reaction to Magnus and Raphael…He said they were creatures, monsters…_

Magnus’s words from earlier seeped back, Alec swallowed…from the moment he saw Magnus he thought he looked like a fantasy…

 

_Was that what it actually was?_

_This ‘glamour’?_

_Was he something like that thing?_

 

Alec took another deep breath, focusing on Magnus like he had with the angel, trying to brace himself for whatever would be revealed…

 

He got that same prickly feeling, that same alarm telling him to stop, but once again he powered through.

 

When his vision seemed to sync with the reality he gasped, breath totally escaping him…

 

_Oh wow…_

 

Magnus thankfully still looked the same; the same distracting, lithe, graceful figure… but oh wow…

 

**_Now_ ** _he understood the alarms._

 

The man was absolutely radiating power; the entire room was nearly pulsing with a shimmering violet energy, and Magnus himself…

 

**_Oh wow_ ** _(Yeah he knows he’s had that thought already a lot but it just kept repeating in his head, it was the only way to describe what he was seeing.)_

 

The power was snapping and crackling about him like lightening, sparking up his arms over his shoulders, trailing down his arms, shimmering and flashing about his hands, almost so brilliant it hurt his eyes, yet he found himself incapable of looking away. As he watched the power surged forward from his hands sending crackling electric bolts into the intense violet field encircling the demon, gnashing and struggling against the binds.

 

_And again…_

**_Oh wow…_ **

 

He kept his eyes wide, not daring to so much as blink, totally entranced…

 

_And he thought the guy was breathtaking before…_

 

“Oh g-god…w-oh god…no, no, nonononono…oh god…” Raj stammered, the blade clattering to the floor, pulling Alec out of stupor, glancing over,

 

The man was ashen, shaking his head; he looked ill, eyes trained on the demon,

 

Alec cleared his throat,

 

“You see it now?”

 

He gave a shaky nod,

 

“So you’ll help?”

 

Raj shook his head, backing away, before turning around rushing out the door,

 

“W-Damn it! No get back h-” Alec called but he was already gone

 

 Raphael made a furious near hiss sound-

 

“Miserable coward…we need his blood for the spell…if he won’t give it willingly I’ll take it.” he growled,

 

_Oh yeah…he’s something too…_

“That m-” Magnus began, then everything seemed to go at once;

 

The field around the demon flickered, it suddenly surging forward, breaking free, leaping from the spot, bracing itself  about eight feet up the wall, claws easily digging into the brick…

 

_Uhh….crap, he really needed to thank Clary for the necklace, those claws were nearly around his neck,_

_As soon as he got out of here he’s tracking down whoever vandalized her shop._

 

It gave a sharp hissing growl, head turning at an unnatural angle, gaze roving over them looking for an opening. Magnus moved to one side of Alec, Raphael to the other, making a very similar hissing sound as the demon-

 

_h-hadn’t Raj said something about fangs?_

So…there’s a ghastly demon, an impossibly powerful magic being, and some hissing guy with fangs squaring off readying for a fight mere feet in front of him as he’s bound to a chair totally helpless.

 

_He never thought he’d see the day he was actually rooting for something to be a concussion induced hallucination._

 

Then everything seemed to explode into lightening quick movement.

 

The demon leaps off the wall aiming right for him, only to be hurled across the room by a powerful crackling wave of energy. It slams into the far wall, instantly getting to its feet snarling, tearing across the room right back at them, charging at Magnus, one of its arms raised, deadly claws gleaming in the light, so fast Alec didn’t see any way he could avoid it. Raphael hisses again, moving across the room so fast it’s just a blur, he slams into the demon full force, grabbing the arm it has raised, jerking it back with a resounding crack, the demon giving a pained, angry, bloodcurdling scream,

 

Raphael pivoted, iron grip still on its clearly broken arm, grabbing the demons leg so hard Alec was sure he heard another bone snap, using his speed and momentum he flung the demon back across the room, slamming hard into the brick wall.

 

Raphael stood protectively between Magnus and the demon, head tilting, making that vicious hissing sound again, even louder, eyes near black, sharp, deadly fangs bared gleaming ominously in the light…

 

_Oooh…come on concussion hallucination…_

 

The demon moved slowly, climbing back to its feet, giving an odd, totally unnerving laughing sound, looking him in the eye. It grabbed the arm hanging uselessly at his side. He jerked sharply, another crack, the hand beginning to move. It once again gave that far too wide smile, exposing the rows of teeth.

 

“Nice trick little one…but it will not work again. You are no threat to me…” it hissed

 

“He’s not. I am a different story.” Magnus said voice soft, melodic, with an odd resonance, a wave of brilliant violet power flickering and snapping about him like flames.

 

Once again Alec’s breath caught, the wave of power rippling through the room intensifying so much it was nearly overwhelming.

 

_Wait…the reactions at the precinct…._

_Was THIS what they were seeing?_

_And Luke…Luke knew him for years…his worry when he came into the room…_

_Oh my god…_

_T-this was just…it was too much…Luke, Phineas, nearly **everyone** reacted…_

_Nearly everyone he worked with wasn’t human…_

_Oh god…wh-_

 

The demons eyes flickered in surprise, grin widening,

 

“Mmm…interesting…I would think you would want the door open…want to be able to go back home…back to your family.”

 

_Umm…what?_

 

Magnus scoffed

 

“My home is Brooklyn, and my family is in this world and safe. And I am going to make damn sure it stays that way.”

 

It tilted its head at that unnaturally contorted, disturbing angle, grin widening impossibly more,

 

“Hmm…and how is that possible? You are only centuries old…not millennia…you would have had to cross over long after Calon tywyll was sealed. I have never heard of such a thing, well except…” the demon trailed off, eyes widening in disbelief, in recognition, a sharp terrifying laugh escaping his lips

 

“No…there is no way…” it said, a near giddy tone to his voice,

 

“Asmodeus’s son?”

 

Magnus gave a dismissive shrug,

 

“Well you know what they say…you can’t pick your family. At least not the biological one. Asmodeus has been dead for nearly nine centuries, good riddance. You know who I am…where my powers come from…and now you will know this;

 

I will use every trace of my powers, every last bit to send you back and seal the door…I will not allow you to damn this world.”

 

It gave that same terrifying laugh,

 

“You’re not going to have a say in It.” without warning it leapt at Magnus, claws flashing, that odd blackish orange cloud billowing up, choking like a thick, chemical smoke.

 

Magnus dodged, the brilliant blue violet shimmering waves surging up, cutting through the smoke, pushing it back. They leapt at each other again, powerful, near blinding electric violet bolts shooting into the demon, sending it crashing into the wall again, it did that crazy jump thing, skittering up the wall like a spider, blindingly fast, flying off the wall, colliding full force with Magnus, sending him flying right towards Alec’s chair, slamming into the wall barely a foot away, narrowly missing him. He slid down the wall, shifting into a crouching position, shaking his head, momentarily shook, his gaze landing on Alec, looking him over in concern,

 

Alec froze, eyes wide, breath catching,

 

_Oh…wow…_

 

Magnus’s eyes were different. No longer the impossibly dark, deep brown; they were now a brilliant shimmering gold, the pupils were slits like those of a cat, they widened in surprise, looking him over curiously. They were unlike anything Alec had ever seen, it felt like he could see into his very soul.

 

_T-that was it…_

_The thing that he’d just barely catch, that sent his heart racing, gave that odd, electric, dizzying thrill…_

_This was it…_

 

Alec swallowed, shaking his head in disbelief…unable to look away from that intense, captivating, bewitching gaze.

 

“M-Magnus…wha?” he stammered breathless,

 

Soft golden eyes widened, full of alarm, looking him over worriedly, he shook his head, reaching up, lightly brushing his fingers against Alec’s cheek. They were warm and soft; he sighed, automatically leaning into the touch. Alec felt a comforting warmth enveloping him, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly tired, eyelids so heavy he couldn’t seem to keep them open, but he tried, trying to focus on those breathtakingly beautiful, shimmering golden eyes.

 

“Sweetheart, it’s okay…it’s a dream…you’re just hallucinating from the concussion. You need to rest, my darling detective. When you wake up all will be as it should…

 

It’s just a dream.” His voice has that soft melodic resonance to it,

 

Alec tired to shake his head, but didn’t even have the energy for that, eyes slipping closed of their own accord. He tried to remain conscious, but it was just a fight he could not win.

 

His last coherent thought was of those gorgeous, brilliantly warm golden eyes; the strength, power, and depth he could feel in them, and the sensation of a gentle, warm press of soft lips, lightly brushing against his forehead.

 

_Throughout this he’d been hoping this was all just a dream, just a hallucination…_

_But right in this moment he wanted nothing more than for it to be real._

#  __

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

#  _ Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

 

Magnus sighed softly, lingering just a bit longer than necessary for the spell, fingers slipping over Alexander’s jaw, pressing one more, soft kiss to his forehead, just breathing for a moment…

 

_He did not want to have to do this…_

 

Spells of the mind are incredibly tricky and can have vastly unforeseen repercussions…he was confident in his abilities but still, he hated having to mess with the detectives memories.

 

But it was unavoidable…he’d seen far too much…it was far too much to just write off as a fevered dream or to fit into a plausible mundane explanation. The damage the sudden overwhelming knowledge of the Supernatural could cause could be far more detrimental to his mental health.

 

Many humans simply cannot process it…not like this.

_Look at Raj…_

The sudden knowledge could hurt them, leave them little more than a jabbering mess. It was no surprise even with the added protection Divya’s recent transformation offered him the sudden ability to see near every supernatural being was enough to break the man. That he would be so terrified he’d willingly aid an ‘Angel’ in attaining sacrifices in order to protect people.

 

Humans generally did not do well with the sudden knowledge they may not be the most powerful beings in existence.

 

There’s only so much their minds can take before it snaps.

 

A gradual introduction to the Supernatural sometimes has better results but even then it’s entirely dependent on how strong mentally the human is beforehand along with a whole host of other varying factors.

 

Alexander was strong, and brave…

 

But every mind had its limits…

 

In a matter of hours he’d been taken hostage by a demon disguised as an angel and a human clearly on the brink of breaking being manipulated by it. He’s been bound for hours, thought he was facing his last moments, had a ranting near broken man mere steps away from slitting his throat. The first supernatural he’s glimpsed is a ghastly, vicious, monstrous demon, hell bent on his death. He witnessed a fight between the demon, a warlock, and a Vampire…

 

He saw both Magnus and Raphael’s true forms as well…he could see it in his eyes…

 

It was far too much for even the strongest mind to process…

 

He likely would never be the same after this.

 

The spell was strong and fairly thorough…

 

He wouldn’t remember anything but vague flashes after going to meet Raj, and none of the supernatural elements.

 

It was the best way to protect his sanity.

_It w-_

 

He’s ripped from his thoughts by a vicious snarl, he whirls back to the action, the demon’s circling Raphael, he’s hissing, looking for an opening, doing his best to keep the monster at bay but Magnus could see he didn’t have a move.

 

As he looked the demon grinned, giving that maniacal laugh, charging forward, claws bared, Raphael leaped out of the way, but not quite quickly enough, the claws caught at his leg, digging in, grabbing, flinging him across the room like a rag doll, right towards the window.

 

Magnus surged forward, waving his hands, just barely managing to keep him from crashing through the glass, guiding him to the ground. Raphael fell into a crouch, readying himself for another attack but Magnus could see the fear in the boys eyes…he never wanted to see that.

 

_Okay, enough of this playing._

 Magnus took a deep breath, power surging up with his anger, slamming into the demon full force, pinning it to the wall, it snarled and gnashed its jaw.

 

Magnus ignored it, rushing forward, helping Raphael to his feet, looking him over quickly,

 

“I-I’m okay” he said trying to sound strong,

 

Magnus shook his head,

 

“No you are not…you need to get out of here, you are no match for it- it will kill you…”

 

He shook his head, grasping Magnus’s arm,

 

“Mag’s I’m not leav-”

 

“Yes you are. Take Alexander; get to safety, clear the building.”

 

He shook his head stubbornly, eyes wide,

 

“No I-”

 

“ _Raphael_ , do not argue on this. I cannot fight the way I need to against it if I have to worry about you two…

 

Get out. Find Simon. Get them to safety.

 

 **Now.”** He finished, voice harsh, sharp and deadly, powers surging up, flickering and flashing like hellfire.

 

Raphael’s eyes widened, he nodded almost shakily,

 

“O-okay Mags…I got them.”

 

He turned rushing over to Alec, grabbing the blade Raj had, using it to cut Alec’s binds, tossing it carelessly back on the ground, quickly shifting the larger man off the chair against him, hurrying out the door for the stairwell, not moving with near his usual speed or agility.

 

_The claw must have hurt him even more than Magnus had initially thought._

 

 He would be fine after a few hours; Vampires do heal fairly quickly but it does take a bit of time and rest.

 

He’d be good as new after a good days sleep…

 

_Still…_

_This demon hurt him…_

 

_It hurt **Raphael…**_

 

He turned from the door, looking up, locking eyes with the demon. Magnus took a deep breath, power flickering, his full strength surging up, pouring into the room, no longer having to worry about collateral damage.

 

He tilted his head curiously; eyes glowing brighter than the demons, brilliant, shimmering, the power swirling around him near blinding…

 

He smirked,

 

The demon actually froze in its struggle…a shadow of doubt flickering behind the large, orange eyes,

 

“I told you; this is my home…my family is here. You have set about to destroy this world, to bring hell on earth. You attacked my home; MY city. You drained six innocent good, pure hearted people. Your actions have drawn the attention of the humans, putting all Supernaturals in danger. You tried to murder a kind wonderful _incredible_ man…someone I just met and am in no way ready to say good bye to…

 

You have made a lot of foolish choices…

 

But worse than _any_ of that? The biggest, most foolish choice you have made as of yet?

 

You just attacked one of mine; one of my family, you tried to kill him…

 

_That?_

 

That one will be your undoing.” He snapped his fingers, the sound seemingly reverberating off the walls, the restraints about the demon instantly dropping away; it slid down the wall no longer bound, completely free,

 

It stood frozen, eyes wide, almost nervous,

 

Magnus gave a deadly, reckless smile, eyes sparking brightly, quirking his eyebrow, power flickering, surging and pulsing like a living storm, filling the room. Magnus raises his hand, crooking one finger, beckoning the demon forward,

 

“Let’s see what you’ve got;

 

 _Little one_.”

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Oh my GOD!!!_
> 
> **_I love Magnus SO FREAKING MUCH!!!!_ **
> 
> (And yes it absolutely needs that much exclamation)
> 
>  


	12. Seeing The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> _And now our exciting conclusion…_
> 
> _(of this one at least…)_

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#  _ Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

 

The demon gave a ferocious snarl, leaping towards Magnus, the acrid smoke billowing up chokingly thick, filling the room swirling and churning against Magnus’s brilliant electric blue violet power, the room engulfed in a whirling, dizzying lightshow. 

 

Magnus met the demon head on, power swelling up, slamming into it, sending it hurling back. He didn’t give it time to catch its footing, ripping it back up, hurling it across the room the other way, slamming it full force into the other wall, pummeling it with a rapid fire succession of blasts.

 

It roared, dodging the next blow, leaping out of the way tearing into the brick, skittering up the wall, before pushing off with breakneck speed, hurling itself right at Magnus, slamming bodily into him, claws slashing, teeth gnashing. Magnus pushed out with his power crackling and flashing, the surge rippling through the room like a sonic boom, reverberating, shaking the building clear to its foundation.

 

The demon shrieked, hissing, skittering away, circling, jaw snapping, hissing and growling, near animalistic. Magnus circled with it, keeping it in his line of sight, hands at the ready, power flickering and flashing.

 

“You have no sacrifice; no innocent blood…your plan has failed. Go back now willingly and this will all end.”

 

It gave a harsh manic laugh, shaking its head,

 

“Oh no…I’m not doing that…

 

I quite like it here; I may not be able to reopen the door but that just means more for me…so much easy prey. So very easy…they don’t even know the danger, so very easily fooled, influenced, lured in…it’s…

 

What’s the human expression? Like taking candy from a baby? Yes…that’s it…they’re helpless, powerless…

 

I will not go back…

 

And without that imbecile you cannot send me back…”

 

Magnus tilted his head,

 

“There was one thing I didn’t understand; why were you trying to make him kill Alec? Why didn’t you do it yourself? I found the spell…there’s nothing in it that says a human has to make the sacrifice, you just need the blood of someone brave and pure of heart…

 

Why force Raj to do it?”

 

It gave a cackling laugh, shrugging,

 

“Because it was _fun_ …” it cackled again, head twisting at that unnatural angle,

 

“It was so very fun…he was oh so close to breaking…so very close to the edge. The knowledge that he murdered a helpless innocent, slit his throat, singlehandedly bringing hell to his world?

 

_Mmm…_

 

It would have completely destroyed him…he was so very close…Two more minutes and I’d of had him…”

 

Its eyes sparked,

 

“I was so close…but this world is full of fragile minded beings…and this ‘Angel’ masquerade was so very effective, worked so easily. I will just have to find another…begin my little game again.”

 

Magnus shook his head,

 

“You will not get that chance; you’re not leaving this building- I will raze this building clear down to the cellar if I have to. This was your only out…you are immortal…but not indestructible. I was giving you a chance to get out of this with your life.

 

Clearly I was being too generous. You are not walking out into this world-

 

Either you go back to Calon tywyll, or you die…there is no third option.”

 

It laughed, tilting its head, smiling impossibly wide, revealing the rows of razor sharp teeth…

 

“Unless you die.” It hissed, leaping forward.

 

Magnus dodged, spinning on heel, sending one bolt after another into the demon. It screamed and hissed, leaping to its feet, bounding over him, digging into the wall above his head, ricocheting off up to the ceiling, skittering across, flying off, digging into the other wall. Bounding around faster and faster. Magnus followed, sending wave after wave of power at it but it was moving too erratically, trying to throw him off.

 

_Okay…this wasn’t working,_

 

He took a deep breath, crossing his arms over himself; drawing his energy in. he exhaled, flinging his arms open, the power exploding out with a deafeningly loud bang, shattering the window, shaking the building- possibly half the block.

 

The demon screamed, scrambling for purchase on the ceiling, losing its grip, falling right on top of the chair, it splintering under the sudden weight. It gasped, breath coming harsh and ragged.

 

Magnus moved closer, standing over the demon,

 

“I will tell you again; go back to Calon tywyll, or die.”   

 

It rolled over, turning to face him, hissing, trying to pull itself up a bit, arms not really functioning quite right, legs at an unnatural angle. It gave a deep growl, bearing its teeth, eyes burning with hatred.

 

“What does it matter to you? This is not your world. You were born in Calon tywyll, you are the son of Asmodeus; one of the most powerful, feared demons to have ever existed.

 

You are more powerful than any of these insignificant little vermin; why bother wasting your time? You are immortal; these humans…they are nothing to you- lifespan but a moment compared to yours.

 

A few disappear, why would you care? It happens all the time, every day…they are gone in a blink…they kill each other, kill themselves, victims of each other, or their own stupidity…are preyed on by other, stronger creatures…a few disappear, it means nothing.”

 

Magnus shook his head faintly,

 

“You are wrong on all accounts. **This** is my world, my home. Asmodeus stopped being my ‘family’ when he tried to kill me and steal my powers the day of my thirteenth birthday.

 

Everyone I love is here, everything I care about.

 

I am the High Warlock of Brooklyn- This is MY city. I protect it, keep it safe, keep the people here safe; Humans, Fae, Magics, Shifters, Vampires, Lesser Demons and everything else…they are under my protection…all of them.

 

Yes, some of them are stupid, arrogant, hateful, violent, and panicky…honestly some seem a total waste of space.

 

But that is irrelevant. No matter how many of those there are, it does not negate the good, brave, selfless _incredible_ ones. Even if only one out of a hundred are worth the effort…one out of a thousand…that is enough.

 

This is my world, my city, my home…

 

And you are done here…

 

Calon tywyll,

 

Or Death

 

 Choose.”

 

The demon tilted its head from side to side,

 

“Hmm…well…I suppose if those are the only options th-” in a flash Magnus realized the distraction,

 

The demon shifted, lightning fast, using it’s now healed arms to propel it up off the floor right at him. Magnus flung out his hands sending electric bolts surging towards it, but it dodged at the last second, hitting the ground, springing back up, leaping over him, catching his arm, those long ghoulish fingers wrapping completely around his forearm, claws digging in,

 

Magnus yelled, rolling trying to fling him off, hurling them both back halfway across the room, but the claws were dug in, clamped on with a death grip. It wrapped its other unbelievably long limb around him, squeezing tight, so tightly he could barely even breathe, pinning his arms down,

 

It was no use…he only had one move left…a last resort. The two shockwaves he’d used as of yet had been powerful, but not near at his full strength. It was the only way…it would kill the demon; nothing could survive the blast…

 

Only it would also level the entire building… along with likely several of the surrounding ones. The destruction would be immense; it would be a miracle if there were only a few causalities…

 

_Still, it was the only move…_

 

A few deaths are regretful, but if this demon got out into the world the damage it could wreak would be far worse…and it would only be a matter of time before it once again tried to open the door…would succeed at it, opening the world to all the horrors of Calon tywyll…horrors that the beings of this world were in no way equipped to face. That could not happen…

 

_It had to be done…_

_He just hoped Raphael had enough time to get himself, Simon and Alec to safety…_

 

Magnus shifted, pressing backwards, giving himself the slightest bit of space to move, grasping the demon’s arms,

 

“Wha-” it started in surprise, grip loosening,

 

Magnus too advantage of the distraction, turning his hands, digging his sharp nails into the demon skin so hard a deep, green viscous blood began trailing down its arms. Magnus’s temperature rose, power shimmering over him, licking the air like violet flames, snapping, blazing electric sparks erupting.

 

The demon made a pained shrieking sound, trying to pull away, Magnus dug in holding him in a vice like grip, power rising, building…

 

 _“W-what are you doing!?”_ it hissed, struggling

 

“I told you…you are not walking out of here…you are not going to go back willingly; I have given you plenty of chances.

 

You do not get anymore…

 

There is no other way…”

_“I’ll rip you apart!”_ The demon snarled, growling, shrieking and hissing, sounding near feral, claws slashing at air, trying to break his hold,  it reared back opening its jaw exposing rows after rows of needle sharp teeth, aiming right for his jugular,

 

An odd, thwack sounded, something smacking squarely into the back of the demons head, it turned in confusion,

 

Magnus followed, looking over towards the center of the room.

 

 _“Raj?”_ He asked in shock

 

He nodded, eyes wide, fearful gaze fixated on them. The man was standing near the edge of the hexagram, shaking in fright, holding the obsidian blade in an unsteady hand. As they watched he brought the blade down on his other hand, holding it over the hexagram, a few droplets splattering inside the circle…that was all it took. It began to smoke, sizzle and swirl, the floor opening, boards seemingly falling away, leaving in its place a swirling, dizzying black abyss,

 

Raj blinked, standing frozen in place, looking wide eyed and terrified at Magnus,  

 

“But you…” the demon hissed in disbelief,

 

Magnus used the distraction, throwing the demon off, sending it careening into the wall, looking over at Raj,

 

_“Raj! Move away from the portal! Recite the spell!”_

 

He scrambled back, stumbling faintly, hesitantly starting, voice shaky and unsure, but a whisper, stumbling over the words…

 

_It was awkward and clumsy, but it was the spell…_

_And it was **working** …_

 

Magnus moved forward, voice joining in with Raj, a different spell, a spell to bind the demon to ensure it could never again cross over. The odd, exotic, lilting words sounding loud and sure, reverberating about the room.

 

The abyss swirled faster and faster, slashed through with vicious red and impossibly black lightning. The demons screamed, scrambling at the floor, digging its claws in trying desperately to find purchase. The acrid black and red smoke filled the room, pulling from the demon, sucking into the vortex.

 

It snarled and gnashed its jaw, giving a ferocious roar, losing its grip on the floor sliding closer towards the abyss. It struggled, thrashing, its huge orange eyes landing on Raj, filling with hate.

 

Magnus gasped

 

“Raj! Look out!” he shouted, but it was too late,

 

The demon shrieked in anger, turning, leaping towards the man. It latched onto Raj’s leg, long terrifying fingers completely encompassing his calf, clamping on with a death grip, pulling him to the ground,

 

Raj screamed, losing his footing, trying desperately to find something to hold onto, fingers clawing ineffectually at the floor. Magnus leaped forward, grabbing his hand, holding tight. He brought the other hand up, throwing a blindingly bright ball of energy right into the demons head.

 

It gave an unearthly scream, skin smoking and sizzling, losing its grip on Raj, hand instinctively going to the wound. Magnus wrapped his arm around Raj, jerking him from the demons grasp. The sudden shift made the demon lose any grip it had, twisting, flying head first into the vortex.

 

Magnus crouched over Raj shielding him. The vortex spun faster and faster, sparking. Suddenly there’s a huge flash, a thundering clap and the portal collapses, room instantly, jarringly silent.

 

 Magnus and Raj fall to the ground, side by side, panting, breathless, sprawling on the floor, just sitting for a moment, trying to catch their breaths.

 

Finally after a few minutes Raj sits up a bit, glancing over at him, tilting his head in confusion,

 

“Y-you saved me?”

 

Magnus nods, propping himself up,

 

Raj shakes his head,

 

“But…w-…you’re a monster?”

 

Magnus shakes his head,

 

“No…I’m a warlock.”

 

Raj nods slowly

 

“So…you’re not trying to wipe out humanity?”

 

Magnus chuckles, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“It’s not really on my ‘to do’ list at the moment…”

 

“Why not?”

 

Magnus tilts his head,

 

“Why would I want to do that?”

 

“Umm… B-Because you’re a monster?”

 

“Warlock.”

 

He shook his head in confusion,

 

“Yeah b-…hell you know what, at least you’re not a demon…” he gives a slightly disbelieving almost laugh,

 

“Nope…well…only, like half demon…”

 

Raj moves over a bit further, eyes wide.

 

Magnus just waves his off, giving a ‘what are you gonna do?’ shrug

 

“Dad’s side…

 

Asmodeus; Grater Demon, prince of hell.”

 

Raj blinks rapidly,

 

“Umm…M-My dad was an IRS agent…”

 

Magnus chuckled, nodding,

 

“Mine doesn’t seem so bad now…” he shook his head, sitting up the rest of the way, pushing his hair back, when something on the floor catches his eye, causing him to still.

 

He glances over at Raj, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Umm…Raj? Did you actually throw your shoe at a demon?”

 

Raj gives a faint shrug, and an almost sheepish nod,

 

“Well…I needed something to get his attention and it was that or the knife a-and I kinda needed the knife…so…

 

Uh…yeah…” he trailed off,

 

Magnus burst out into near uncontrollable laughter, nearly doubling over shaking his head, glancing at the other man in disbelief,

 

Raj blinked,

 

“Umm…a-are you alright?”

 

Magnus gasped, nodding, wiping at his eyes, trying to get himself under control,

 

“R-Raj…do you have any idea…You stopped a demon from escaping into the world or me leveling nearly half a city block with a **_shoe_** …”

 

Raj huffed out a quick laugh,

 

“Yeah well I d…wait… _you were what!?”_

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#  _ Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael _

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_God who the hell **designed** this building?_

 

Raphael groaned as he turned yet _again_ making his way down the seemingly never ending stairs. They were an odd almost square spiral thing that seemed to have an infinite procession of sharp angles, narrow steps and landings with just a flimsy, not quite waist high rusted out wrought iron handrail for protection from the dizzying drop to the hard stone floor of the lobby level.

_No wonder the place was condemned…it was a freaking death trap…_

 

 They hadn’t seemed so bad on the way up…of course on the way up he wasn’t trying to carry six foot three, nearly two hundred pounds of dead weight and his leg hadn’t been clawed open by a demon.

 

He didn’t think Magnus said anything about Hanfod lladrata having any kind of toxin but he wasn’t feeling right, the stairs were much more of a struggle, and Alec seemed to be getting heavier by the moment, and they’d just made it to the fourth floor.

_Oh look…another turn…_

 

He took the corner, idly wondering exactly how close he’d have to be to the ground to be able to just toss Alec down and jump, pausing, glancing over the rail.

 

Nope not yet…that’d almost certainly kill the detective…

_He’ll check at the second…_

_Two floors doesn’t seem too bad…_

 

He shifted Alec against his shoulder, trying to find a more comfortable way to carry a guy half a foot taller than him.

 

There wasn’t one…

 

Stupid demon; couldn’t have just gone for a normal short, easily carried sacrifice…no apparently it had to have a predilection for people built like freaking basketball players…

 

Raphael startled at a sudden, jarring booming sound from above them, the entire building trembling, sending clouds of dust and bits of plaster into the air…

 

_Okay Mag’s means business…need to pick up the pace a bit…_

 

He shifted Alec yet again, moving a bit quicker towards the next set of stairs passing still more empty offices and rooms.

 

_Oh what a surprise…another turn…_

 He sighed making his way down the steep stairs and around yet another turn leading onto the landing.

 

_Seriously, who designed this place?_

_This was j-_

He froze, the sound of fast, odd heartbeats and rapid panting breath catching his attention. They were approaching, seven…

 

Coming from near all directions; four from the floors above, three from below.

 

_That was not a human sound…_

 

He quickly shifted Alec over, moving to the corner, leaning him against the wall, taking position in front of him, readying for whatever was coming.

 

He could feel them closing in but there was nowhere to take cover. They were on the landing between the third and second floor, there was nowhere they could go, and the creatures were closing in fast…

 

He could now hear snarling, hissing and growling…

 

_Ah crap…that was not a good combination…_

_There was only one creature he knew of that made those sounds._

_Madfall-ci demons._

They were vicious pack animals… about three to five feet long, built like some bizarre, unholy combination of a dingo and a predatory lizard or crocodile…

 

Thick, smooth, leathery greenish black hairless skin, long limbs, deadly claws, and elongated, vaguely crocodilian like snapping jaws filled with long, razor sharp jagged teeth and slobber.

 

They didn’t usually travel this far into the city, at least not above ground anyways, generally preferring to stick to the outer areas and the sewer system. However they did at times nest in abandoned buildings, especially in the winter during their hibernation. When a pack had established a nest they’d fiercely defend it.

 

_He was beginning to think he knew why this place had never been renovated._

 

 Humans couldn’t ever actually see Madfall-ci, - could almost never see Anifail in general. A few types like the rhwystro tân could draw a human’s attention and show themselves when they were hunting, but as Madfall-ci hardly ever preyed on humans they were one type of Anifail that humans could never see, their eyes did not actually process the creatures.

 

When a human encountered them they’d just get an unsettling feeling, the danger registering even though they couldn’t see the actual threat.

 

It was that cold unexplained chill that sets your teeth on edge, sending your eyes darting around anxiously. That feeling of being watched that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up and the desperate need to get away from somewhere as quickly as humanly possible.

 

That was a Madfall-ci.

 

Even in an actual attack humans couldn’t see them, just hear the sounds and feel the blows…Attacks from Madfall-ci are where the mythology and folklore of hellhounds arose from.

_It was actually a pretty apt description of the beasts._

 

The growling, hissing noises moved closer, deep, near subsonic sounds that reverberated straight through you. He could hear the foot falls now, the click of the claws on the steps. Raphael braced himself, readying for the attack.

 

Still the first was a surprise. It leaped up from the floor below, latching onto the guardrail, the long, fingerlike toes curling around, inch long razor sharp claws clinking against the metal, pulling itself up, launching straight at him in a blink, brilliant red eyes glowing, jaw wide.

 

He turned just in time knocking the beast back, catching it in the throat, sending it flying into the two that’d just reached the landing from below with a pained yelp.

 

Raphael crouched, readying for the next attack. The snarling from above grew closer, glancing over he saw four sets of unearthly glowing red eyes, the glint of the jagged fangs catching in the light, drool and foam dripping onto the hardwood.

 

_Oookay he may be in trouble here…_

He’s injured, possibly poisoned, literally backed into a corner, the only thing standing between an unconscious, helpless detective and a vicious pack of pissed off, slobbering death that just woke up from hibernation…likely not having eaten in over a month…

 

_Yeah…t-this might not go his way…_

Still…there’s no other option. He’s not leaving Alec to the creatures…he’ll just take a page from Magnus’s book. Run at it head on and hope like hell he comes out on top.

 

He crouches, baring his own fangs, hissing, launching himself at the biggest one. After that it’s a free-for-all, the beasts leaping at him, all gnashing teeth and slashing claws, him reacting going purely on instinct; whirling, grabbing, striking fast and hard, taking any opening he saw; going for the soft spots, the belly or neck, the creatures snarling, yelping and hissing.

 

He sent one over the railing, careening into the stone floor. Another tried to dash around him, making a b-line for Alec, he caught it, snagging it by the back leg, throwing it against the guardrail, hearing a familiar crack, then the groan of the section of railing coming loose, tumbling out of sight.

 

_Okay two down…_

_Five to go…_

**_Crap…_ **

 

Two leaped at him, teeth gnashing, he dodged one, ducking under, grabbing the other, digging in, slamming it full force into the brick wall, it yelps, falling to the ground limp. He doesn’t have time to enjoy the victory though as yet another slams into him, knocking him to the ground.

 

He hears the growl over him, trying to knock it off, but its claws dig into his shoulders, pinning him, he can hear the other three growling, hissing, and snapping, circling him.

 

He tries to push up, but can’t get enough leverage. The creature leans in; he can feel the hot, acrid breath at his neck,

                                         

_Oh god, this is it t-_

  ** _“Hey!_** _Get off him you slobbering, creepy whatever the hell you are!”_

_BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!_

He hears in quick succession, along with sharp yelps, and something heavily hitting the ground. He feels the creature above him suddenly collapse. Raphael shifts, slowly pushing the now dead weight off him looking over towards the steps in confusion.

 

Simon re-holsters his gun, looking him over worriedly,

 

“Are you alright Raphael?”

 

Raphael sets frozen,

 

_Simon saved him…_

_O-only..._

**_How_ ** _did he save him?_

_Humans cannot see_ _Madfall-ci_

**_Humans can NEVER see Madfall-ci_ **

****

_Not even in an attack…_

_Their eyes cannot process the creatures…_

_He spent most of last night with Simon, and two hours the day before…_

_He’s human…_

_He’s never registered as anything other than human…_

_Not even the slightest bit…_

_No trace of a spell or any of the like, he’d be able to sense that…_

_He’s human…totally human…senses not enhanced in any way…_

_And yet he can see the_ _Madfall-ci…_

_That should not be possible…_

_The only way that would be is if…_

He tilts his head, moving into a defensive crouch, giving a low hiss, eyes fixed on the detective,

 

_Who is not just a detective…_

_Not just a human…_

“Gwir-dyst” he growls

 

Simon blinks, eyes wide, taking a hesitant step back, swallowing, putting his hands up placatingly…

 

“Okay, so…I can **_totally_** explain.”

 

 

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Madfall-ci (Lizard-dog) demons
> 
> ***I may have took a few ideas from the hellhounds in Supernatural here though those just looked like dogs basically and I didn’t want that, so we have weird, invisible dingo-crocs…
> 
> I’m thinking being unable to see them might actually be a blessing***
> 
>  
> 
> Anifail- animal (animal like demons…not sentient beings)
> 
>  
> 
> I know, I know, I’m terrible stopping there but I have to keep you all coming back J
> 
>  
> 
> Sorry for it, this really was the best place to stop; you know Raphael and Simon’s conversation is gonna be a hell of a lot longer than a few pages.
> 
>  
> 
> This should be the last of the cliffhanger endings for a while…
> 
> I planned these first three to kinda work as a trilogy kinda thing. After the next one (Titled - ** _You can’t go home again (though…really why would you want to?)_**
> 
> We’re mostly going back to the each story is one self contained storyline format like my other series. Some themes or story arcs may carry over ( _I have plans…LOTS of plans…_
> 
>  _Hint* Magnus’s ‘supernatural forget me not type spell may not have worked quite as thoroughly as it’s supposed to…but WHY_ didn’t it?) but this should be the last straight up cliff hanger…
> 
> _At least that I have planned…_
> 
> _So, you know_
> 
> 🤷♀️
> 
> Sometimes the characters seem to have a mind of their own.
> 
> Anyways, as always thank you all so much for reading, I’m so glad people seem to be liking this cause I’m having a blast.
> 
>  
> 
> Next episode obviously we’re gonna get a lot of Saphael (yay!), we’re gonna learn more about Gwir-dyst- I know I haven’t went into them a lot yet…that’s because we’re gonna have like half a story dedicated to Simons past…all the questions about them will be answered, I promise.
> 
>  
> 
> Also we’re gonna meet Divya and figure out what to do with Raj (I know he was working with the demon, but he himself never hurt anyone and he genuinely thought what he was doing was to protect humanity…that he was being led by an Angel trying to save people from fearsome, evil monsters…and he did come back in the end to help save the day…with a shoe- _it popped in my head and I couldn’t resist)…_
> 
>  
> 
> And Alec’s dealing with his concussion and confusion (FYI there may not be a TON of Malec in the next one-at least not that I have planned as of yet (once again 🤷♀️) we have a lot of plot to deal with, lots of other characters, Saphael and Clizzy’s first meeting and much, much more so…yeah…
> 
> Malec might have to take a back seat, just this once)
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you so much for all your comments, they really do make my day and make me that much more excited to keep writing,
> 
>  
> 
> You guys really are amazing!


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